


Pennywise the dancing clown makes a show in the upside down

by DearLittleRobin



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Richie Tozier-centric, Some Fluff, Underage Smoking, Why do I enjoy making Richie suffer so much, Will add more if needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-02-04 23:50:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12782319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearLittleRobin/pseuds/DearLittleRobin
Summary: Richie leaves Derry to run away from his problems. Too bad they follow him to Hawkins.AkaThe ST/IT angsty crossover I'm trying to write.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to another fun ride. I can't leave Richie alone, oh well.  
> This first chapter is mostly just to explain shit and the next will be the emotional rollercoaster I planned this fic to be.

Richie was having a bad day.

Wait, no, scratch that.

Richie was having a bad year. That one day was just the one on which he finally broke down.

It all began with a creepy evil clown, that story you already know, but destiny wasn't quite satisfied yet.

Things were already bad and they just got worse when the Losers started moving away from Derry. Beverly was the first one to go.

Then, a few months later, Stan.

It wasn't as if Beverly's departure was taken with happy smiles, of course not, but Stan's absence, to Richie, felt like a hand squeezing his heart so strongly it could end up breaking. Stan left a hole, a hole too big for Richie to deal with. Many were the times when Richie caught himself asking Stan what was the name of that brown bird again only to realise there was no one by his side. Many were the times Richie caught himself staring at the empty chair next to him in his English class and at the empty spot next to Bill on lunch.

Losing Stan also meant losing a place to stay when his home situation got too hard and that meant Richie had to choose between freezing his ass off by sleeping outside or just enduring whatever the fuck his parents had to give him that day. There were days when he could go to Eddie's, but, after the one time his mother witnessed Richie slipping through Eddie's window, strong metal bars blocked his passage. Bill's was always out of question: there were no trees high enough to reach his bedroom window,Ben couldn't have him at his house and Mike's farm was just too far away.

So yeah. Stan leaving was not good at all for Richie, but he wished it would have stopped there.

Next one to go was Big Bill himself.

 By leaving, Richie's heart wasn't the only thing he broke. Bill broke the Losers club, which was just barely held together after losing both Beverly and Stan. Bill was the final strike to make them go in separate ways. Mike started to just stay in the farm, Ben went back to spending his free time in the library and Eddie just stopped trying to go against his mother that much.

Still, they had all been there on the day Ben left. Richie had hugged him tightly. "Hope the people there treat you the way you deserve, Haystack" He had whispered in Ben's ear.

Eddie's time to go came like a sudden punch to the gut. The small boy tapped Richie's shoulder during lunch period and hugged him tightly when he turned.

"I'm moving away tomorrow" is what Eddie said. Richie didn't answer. Instead, he bit his lip and hugged his friend back.

There they stayed for what seemed to be hours but was probably just a few seconds. When they pulled away, Eddie sniffed.

"Goodbye, Rich" He said.

"Goodbye, Eds" Richie answered.

Eddie rolled his eyes at the nickname and Richie expected him to say the usual comeback. "Don't call me that" Eddie would say and Richie would laugh and go back home to cry into his pillow and try to forget that, again, one of his best friend was leaving. Eddie didn't do that, though, Eddie surprised them both.

"I'll miss you calling me Eds" He whispered and in any other occasion Richie would have teased him non stop for saying something like that. He stayed quite, though. When Eddie smiled at him he smiled back and Eddie left and didn't come back.

Richie tried to stay with Mike for a little bit, but the boy was way too busy to be  the attention giver and emotional support Richie needed him to be. It wasn't his fault, Richie knew Mike was trying his best. It just wasn't enough.

As he stared at his reflection in mirror, Richie asked himself how did he let things get that bad. He had never felt so alone, not even when...no, he cut that train of thought, don't think about it.

_Don't thik about him._

Richie shook his head and stared at his now messy hair and big eyes. A bruise was forming under his left eye to keep company to the one on his cheek. Staying home, while being his only option nowadays, was not doing him any good.  He wanted to cry, scream, break everything, but Richie stayed quiet. No one would hear him anyway.

The plan was to wait, find a job, finish school, move out and never see his parents again. Maybe try going to college somewhere near where the other Losers were or something. Just a few more years of this and then bum, he would vanish.

As much as he hated to admit it, Richie was not strong enough for that.  

After the third beating of a particularly bad week he decided enough was enough and while a symphony of screams took place around him Richie threw everything he valued inside a bag and ran. He took his bike and only stopped when he reached Mike's farm.

"I'm leaving" He said to his friend.

It wasn't a beautiful sight. Richie's face had bruises all over, blood was dripping from his nose and his clothes were already sweaty and gross.

Mike smiled anyway.

"Good luck, Richie." Mike said and God knew Richie would need it.

The idea was crazy, he knew, but it wasn't as if Richie had any better options. Richie had to get away from Derry.

+++

Richey woke up when the truck came to a sudden stop. He blinked a few times, incredibly confused, and reached to his glasses only to realise they were already on his face.

"We're here, kid" a voice said and Richie turned to the source of it.

A man stared at him for a few seconds before pointing to the window with his head. Richie moved to look.

" **WELCOME TO HAWKINS"** Big black letters told him.

The place gave Richie a weird vibe. It was as if it was calling him, but also warning him to stay away. It seemed dangerous and if Richie was in the right state of mind he would have probably turned back by now.

Too bad he wasn't.

That town intrigued him enough to make him go on

"Come on, kid. Your parents must be worried as fuck about you" The man spoke, waking Richie up for real.

"Yeah" He agreed awkwardly and opened the door so he could get off the truck "I'm sure they must be"

A hand on his shoulder stopped him from moving and he turned to the man again.

"Listen, kid." The man began "I know you're sacred about how they'll react and all that and I know you think they'll be mad beyond their minds but look" The man retread his hand " family is still family no matter what. They still love you just like they did before."

Richie nodded.

"Thanks , sir"

The man smiled and Richie got out.  
His bike was long gone, he had sold it weeks before, so the rest of the walk would have to be on foot. Richie lighted up a cigarette and tried to push away the guilt of stealing that pack from the kind man who had driven him there. He couldn't afford to feel guilty, couldn't afford to stop and think about it. He had to keep moving. Those people were gone, forgotten.

 _It's either stealing or dying_ , he reasoned and he knew it was only to make himself feel better,  _it's not because I want to, is because I need to._

Ritchie didn't walk for long before the small town came into view. He put the cigarette out and stepped on it a few times. People suspected less of kids if they were not smoking, Richie had learned. He walked around a bit,taking in his soundings, (he saw an arcade and promised himself he woukd go inside at least once) until he spotted a convenience store.

"You can do this, Tozier" Richie whispered to himself and got in.

Avoiding eye contact, he took out a pice of paper from his bag and pretended to read off it as he put groceries in the basket on his arm. If anyone looked at him he would seem like a normal kid whose mom sent to buy some stuff. No big deal. He walked through aisle after aisle and, when he was finally done with it, the real show began.

Richie walked towards the cashier, still pretending to read off the list, but then oh no! (he came to a sudden stop and looked to the products that were the nearest to the door.) He had forgotten to buy that! Slapping his forehead he made his way to the area. He glanced at the door. Clear path. He looked around a little bit. No one was paying attention to him. Perfect opportunity.

Richie ran.

"Hey!"

Everything would have been fine had a man not stepped in Richie's way from literally nowhere. Richie collided with him at full force and instinctively let go of the basket, the contentes falling to the ground. Richie soon followed them, trying his best to save his weak body from the harsh impact with the ground by putting his hands back to try to stop the fall. The action did nothing but injury Richie's hand and the boy let out a hiss.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" The man standing in front the of him snickered.  
Richie turned to look at him, ready to get up and run away as fast as it was humanly possible, when he saw that the guy was wearing a police uniform.

Shit! Shit!! Shit!!

The officer's eyes scanned Richie's dirty scared face and he frowned, clearly confused.

"What the fu- Mike?!" The officer asked.

Just the mention of the name was enough to make Richie freeze. Back in Derry, it had taken weeks for Richie to get used to Mike Hanlon being in the group. It had nothing to do with his personality, Mike was as good as one could be,  but his name made Richie flinch every time it came out of one of his friend's mouth. Of course, Richie cursed himself, of all the cities he had to choose this one.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" The officer continued, clearly unaware of the breakdown Richie was having below him. " Why are you wearing glasses? And your clothes! How long have you been away from home?" At Richie's silence, the man got more aggressive. He pulled Richie up with one rude movement and held his shoulder with a painful grip. "Answer me!" He screamed.

Richie started to think about his options. He could use their position to his advantage, maybe kick the officer for a distraction. He could probably outrun the older man but if got caught again things would be bad. He could pretend to pass out and wait for the opportunity to get away. Maybe even fake a heart attack! No one would arrest someone having a heart attack, right? Then he would run and never set a foot in Hawkins again.  
_Or_ , a voice that was way too similar to Eddie's whispered to him, _you could just tell the truth to the man and get the help you need._

Richie sighed.

"I'm not Mike" He said, voice raspy and weird due to the lack of use.

"What?" The officer questioned him again, less angry and more confused this time, the grip he had on Richie loosing up a bit.

"I'm not Mike" Richie repeated the words and took a deep breath before saying the next. "I'm his brother"

+++

Riding in a car with a stranger and having no idea on where he's taking you is not a good situation to be in, but hey, honestly, Richey had been in worse ones. The man, Jim Hopper, Richie had learned, still looked confused.

"So let me get this straight" Hopper started looking at Richie with the corner of his eye. Richie didn't like the attention. "You are Mike's lost twin brother who has ran away from your home in Maine and has come, by yourself, all the way here because you felt as if this town was calling you."

"Basically" Richie agreed.

Hopper hummed.

"And Mike has never talked about you because?"

Richie closed his eyes at the question. He knew it would come eventually, but he really didn't want to answer it. _Deep breaths,_ the same Eddie-like voice from before whispered to him, _You're okay._

"We didn't part ways in good terms" Was the answered Richie offered, hoping it would be enough. Unfortunately, Hopper did not seem satisfied.

"I'm not in the mood for mystery, kid. Spit it out."

The words were harsh and sounded a lot like something an angry dad would say to his rebellious child. However, somehow, in a way Richie didn't comprehend, they gave him a sense of safety and comfort as if the man was opening his arms and saying "You can tell me what's bothering you, son"

Richie felt like he could trust Jim Hopper. The boy knew that should scare him since the trust wasn't based in any facts and therefore the decision to give it so easily was stupid but who could blame him? The feeling of safety was not one he was willing to give up.

Richie hugged his backpack tighter and took a deep breath.

"Mike-" He stopped. Years had passed since he said that name referring to his brother and the word gave him the feeling of familiarity at the same time it left a bitter taste on his tongue. He closed his eyes for a few seconds." Mike and I grew up together." Richei finally said"We lived in an orphanage since our parents left us there and we dreamed about the day we would finally be able to get out of that shithole" He couldn't really stop his voice from cracking so he made a brief pause to clear his throat and see if Hopper was going to say anything. When the man didn't, he continued. "We wanted to get out together" His voice carried sadness in it "And that was the problem, 'cause no one wanted to adopt us both. I used to think it was because twins are too much for some families, but it wasn't uncommon for couples to walk out of that hell with two kids in their arms" A pause. Richie let out a humorless laugh "Truth is," He closed his eyes "no one wanted to adopt me."

Then, all of the sudden, Richie is transported back to that time. He's back to being his younger self, the kid who didn't shut up and ran around too much and annoyed every single adult that came close.

"Demon child" people would whipper about him.

Mike, on the other hand, was love by everyone. The angel, the sweetheart, the cute kid who was unfortunate enough to be born with a broken twin.

Richie could recall some of the good memories. Mike hugging him when he started crying about the mean things people would say to him. Mike playing with him because no one else would. Mike calling him his best friend. Those memories were like dreams after waking up: only bits and pieces, confusing as hell, but still there.  
 

Richie remembered the bad moments much more vividly with one in particular being glued to the boy's mind since the moment it happened, probably cursed to stay there forever.

"I'm going with them, Richie"

Simple words.

"But they don't want both of us! Our deal is to turn down everyone until we can be adopted together!"

Richie could still hear Mike saying those things. Sometimes, at night, when he was staring at the ceiling and unable to sleep, he would hear Mike's voice yelling at him again.

"Oh yeah and that's turning out so well for you, huh, Richie?" His voice was angry "How many couples have you turned down for me? Huh?! How many, Richie?!" His voice was cruel. "That's right! Zero! You've never turned anyone down, I have to do all the dirty work! You know why?" It didn't sound like his brother." Because no one wants you!"

Those five words made frequent appearance in Richie's nightmares. They would echoe in his mind if he was left alone with his thoughts for too long. He still didn't know what hurt more, the words or the truth behind them.

"Then Mike left" Richie told Hopper and he could tell by the wetness in his cheeks that he was crying. " He left and I stayed back there." He suppressed a sob. "Alone." Richie scrubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down. "I got quieter after that and about three months later a couple adopted me. " Deep breaths. " Things were relatively well for like a year but the woman discovered her husband was cheating on her and she started drinking a lot" Deep breaths " Too much." Deep breaths. "Way too much." Deep breaths" The husband got angry at her but he didn't have the courage to hit her so he had to turn his anger elsewhere "

"Did he beat you?" Hopper asked.

"Yeah" Richie answered, only a bit surprised by the bluntness of the question. He guessed police officers were like that. 

"That's why you ran away?"

"Partially" Richie bit his lip " There's also the fact that all my friends moved away and I just felt like there was nothing for me o  that city anymore."

"Why didn't you go to your friends then? Why come all the way here?"

"I don't know" Richie admitted " It just felt...right. Coming here that is." He turned to look at the window, not really focusing on anything. "There's something weird about this town and I just- I don't know, man. I felt like I should be here, like something  here is calling for me."Come float with us, a creepy voice whispered. Richie shook his head.  
Hopper sighed and blinked a few times as his fingers randomly tapped the wheel.

"That's a lot" He commented.

"Yeah" Richie agreed.

Hopper hummed at the answer and his finger tapping turned to an actual rhythm. The man stared at the road ahead with a thoughtful expression.

"Do you wanna see Mike?" He asked.

Richie considered it for a few seconds. On the first weeks after Mike left, Richie had spent almost all the nights crying into his pillow, begging God or whoever was listening to bring his brother back to him. With time, though, he just kind of moved on as seeing Mike again  just never seemed like a possibility. That and  the fact that the feeling of loss and regret he felt when thinking about Mike were gradually morphing into anger.

"Not now" Was what Richie settled as his answer.

Hopper nodded and they stayed a few moments in silence. Richie's hand made its way inside his backpack and he silently grabbed a coin he kept hidden in there. He passed the object through his fingers as a way to try to calm himself down.

"Where are you taking me?" Richie asked and he hopped he had not sounded as nervous as he felt. It wasn't that Richie was suspicious of Hopper or anything like that, that blind trust was still in action, but not knowing made him feel really uneasy.

"Well" Hopper coughed " I assumed you don't have a place to stay, correct me if I'm wrong, so  I'm thinking about offering you a deal. I'll give you some food and a place for you to crash."

Richie frowned.

"And what do I have to do in exchange for that?" He asked, uncertainty clear in his voice.

"That we will discuss later, but it'll be nothing bad." The car came to a stop and Hopper turned to Richie extending his hand to the kid. "Are you in?"

Richie grabbed the hand without even thinking about it. That offer was more than anything he had for the past few months. Besides, if he didn't want to do his part of the deal he could just run away when the time came.

"I'm in" He shook Hopper's hand.

"Hope you don't mind having a roommate"

Hopper said and turned to get out of the car.  
Richie frowned in confusion, but shrugged and soon moved to get out of the car himself.

"As long as they don't snore when they sleep" He said to Hopper. The man laughed.

"Don't worry about that"

They walked together to a small cabin, hidden in the woods.

"Careful with the wire" Hopper warned when they reached a particular tree and it took a Richie some seconds to figure out what he was talking about.

The cabin wasn't the best place a Richie had seen but again: way better than what he had which was nothing at all. Hopper cleaned his boots on the doormat and knocked on the door two times, paused, one time, paused, three times. Not much time later the door opened to reveal a girl around Richie's age with short, curly brown hair and wide eyes.

"Hi,El" Hopper greeted "I brought you a friend."

The girl, El apparently, turned to Richie. Her stare was intense and he had to resist the sudden urge of taking a few steps back. El seemed to see into his soul, unwrapping every layer that composed Richard Tozier until she reached his core. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Uh.. Hi" He tried, wrapping his coat tighter around himself as if it would shield him from her eyes.

"You're not Mike" She said.

"Hm, no" He extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Richie"

El looked at him for a couple more second before turning to Hopper. Richie brought his hand back and pit it inside his pocket once more, feeling awkward.

 

"He looks like Mike" She said slowly, a bit of anger in her speech. "But is not Mike."

"Yeah, I know" Hopper agreed. Then he put a hand on Richie's shoulder and El's stare turned  back to the boy "He's Mike's brother"

El frowned and took a step closer. The unsettling feeling Richie felt before came back at full force and this time he didn't resist taking a step back. El just took another step forward.

"Mike didn't have a brother" Now she was looking directly into Richie's eyes "Why are you here?"

"That's a great question, lady" Richie answered without putting much thought on it, more by instinct than anything. "Can't say I know for sure"

El squinted her eyes at him and raised her hand tp touch his cheek. She moved until her hand grabbed a hold of his glasses so she could pull them out. El's face became blurry as soon as she did so.

"Why do you look like Mike?" She asked, inspecting the object in her hands.

"We're twins" Richie answered.

"Twins?" El asked and turned to Hopper.

"They were born at the same time from the same stuff" Hopper tried to explain.

"Stuff?" El questioned.

"We'll have this conversation on another time"

Richie couldn't help but laugh at little at the exchange, making both pairs of eyes turn to him again.

"Sorry" He murmured, but there was still a smile on his face. He looked at El. "Can I have my glasses back?"

She promptly gave them back to him and Richie shoved then again on his face. Now he could clearly see Hopper smiling a little at their little interaction. Richie couldn't know for sure, but imagined El was a very lonely kid judging by where she lived.

"Let's get inside, shall we?" Hopper said and both children turned to him." It's almost dinner time and we still have many things to do."

El looked at Richie with curious eyes one more time and then followed Hopper inside.

+++

Richie woke up with sunlight hitting him directly in the face. He made a frustrated noise and moved his hands, one to block that God forsaken light from his eyes and another to find his glasses. He sat up on  the sofa he was sleeping in, yawning amd stretching his back. It was the best sleep he had had in a long time. Richie looked around a little bit. No sign of Hopper or El but there was a pink paper on the ground next to where the glasses had been a couple of seconds before.

_Had to leave early. Make some food for you and El, I'll be back for dinner. Remember the rules._   
_-JH_

Richie sighed. It was nice to have a roof above his head, but not being able to get out would probably drive him insane. Still, he couldn't complain. Hopper had given him a warm bed, well, sofa, but you know what he meant, clean clothes and food so not leaving was not much to ask.

Richie scratched the back of his head and yawned one more time, finally getting up for real. He walked to the small kitchen and opened the fridge to look at its contents. His eyes widened.

"Wow." He stared at the boxes "Eggos it will be then"

Richie took one of the boxes and started working, loosing himself to his thoughts quickly. His hands moved almost automatically as his mind raced through the most recent events. He knew he still hadn't fully processed the fact that Mike lived in that town, the fact that he could just go see his brother if he wanted.

Would Mike want to see him?

The possible answers to that question scared Richie. Years had passed since their last interaction and Mike didn't seem too sad to leave then. Maybe he didn't miss Richie at all. Maybe he was glad he left. Maybe he had forgotten Richie completely. Maybe he...

"Richie?"

"Holy shit!" Richie screamed, almost dropping the Eggos on the floor as he turned at full speed to look at El. "You scared the shit out of me!"

El frowned at him.

"Bad word" She said.

"Oh,Sorry" Richie apologized "I can't really help it."  He turned back to the Eggos so he could put them on plates. He hold one plate in each hand and turned to El, a tentative smile on his face"I, uh, I made Eggos for us"

El wordlessly walked towards him and snatched one of the plates, taking it with her as she walked around the kitchen, taking some recipients with one hand and holding the plate with the other.

"...'kay then" Richie mumbled under his breath and walked towards the table. He sat with his back facing El and started to eat.

Seconds later El sat in front of him, making a Richie jump a little. She handed him chocolate syrup and pointed to his waffles.

"Good" El said and then started eating her own waffles.

Richie stared at her for a few seconds, the chocolate syrup in his hand. He smiled at her. El was kinda weird, sure, but Richie could feel she was cool.

"Thanks, El" He said and put the chocolate all over his food.

+++

"Hey, El" Richie called. The girl turned to him. "Do you think Hopper would be too mad if I opened one of the windows?" 

"Windows must stay closed" El said.

"Yeah, I know. But do you think I can open one of them for a bit?" Richie pressured " Just for a few minutes, no more than that"

El looked away from Richie and stared at one of the windows in the back. She seemed to be considering Richie's request and the boy anxiously tapped his foot on the ground waiting for her to make a decision.

It was around 4pm and Richie hadn't had a smoke since the day before. His body was itching. Watching movies with El and looking around the cabin proved to be a great distraction but there's only so much Richie can handle. He needed the familiar burning feeling.

"Yes" El's voice took Richie out of his thoughts. She looked at him with serious eyes. "Only for a bit."

"Only for a bit!" Richie repeated excitedly, hands already inside his backpack and searching for his lighter. "Thanks, El, you're the best!"

El smiled at the compliment and watched with curious eyes as Richie made his way to the furthest window in the back. The boy put the curtains up and lifted the window. Cold air made its way through the passage and Richie felt chills run around his body. He was quick to light up the cigarette and put it in his mouth.

"Hopper does that sometimes" El told Richie. The girl now stood beside Richie, watching as the smoke came out of his mouth and disappeared outside. "He says it's bad"

Richie nodded.

"It's quite bad, yeah" He inhaled and exhaled one more time before continuing. "I used to have a friend that almost begged me to quit. Said this sticks would fuc-destroy my health."

"Then why?" El asked, pointing to the lit cigarette in Richie's hand and then to the smoke outside.

"I like the feeling." Richie shrugged.

El seemed genuinely intrigued.

"Can I try?" She asked already extending her hand to grab it.

"No can do, sweetie" Richie shook his head and took the cigarette away from her reach. "Hops would kill me if he knew I let you smoke"

"He can't tell me what to do!" El said angrily and reached for the cigarette again, but Richie didn't let her catch it. "I want to try it!"

"Already said, no can do" El tried to go for it one last time and, when she failed, retreated her hand and took a step back. "Sorry, El"

She didn't say anything, but seemed to be concentrated. Richie frowned and two seconds later he felt the cigarette slip from his grip and fly into El's hand.

"What the fuck!" He screamed.

El user his momentary panic to bring the thing to her mouth and inhale it. Unsurprisingly, she started coughing like crazy as soon as she did. Richie was quick to go from "What the fuck just happened" to "Shit, shit, shit, she needs help" and jumped to El's side. He easily took the cigarette from her hand and tossed it outside while giving her back light slaps.

"There, there" He said gently. " Reason number two why you, my gal, shouldn't smoke"

Once the coughing fit died down a little, Richie stepped back and walked to the kitchen, returning  with a glass of water.

"Drink it up" He said handing it to a El who did exactly what he said, so fast it made Richie afraid she would start coughing again.

"Thanks" El whispered and gave him the glass back. Richie set it aside on the table.

"Soooo..." Richie said awkwardly." Care to explain me how you made the cigarette float?"

El stared at him with wild eyes.

"It's complicated" She said.

"We have the time" Richie assured and moved to close the window. Once he did that he gesture to El to follow him back to the sofa. "I'm all ears"

+++

If someone told Richie had would end up living in a cabin in the middle of the woods with basically a super heroine, Richie would have asked that person which drugs they were on. It seemed surreal, impossible, a 'never gonna happen' type of situation. Yet, there he was.

The weirdest part of it all was how normal everything felt. It was like everyday life,only with stuff moving around by themselves every now and then. It was fun even.  
Took Richie and El a lot of time but they managed to convince Hopper to let them go outside sometimes. They would walk around the woods for a bit, see the animals and plants. Richie would sometime point to a bird and say its name, a knowledge he wasn't quite sure on how he got.

Richie had planned to stay with El and Hopper for no longer than a week or two, but two months had already passed and he was still there.

(Two months and he hadn't seen Mike yet.)

They had been two good months, but Richie still was a moody teenager so it came to a time when he just felt like he couldn't stay inside that small cabin in the woods any longer.

"Hey Hops" Richie called, sitting beside the man on the sofa as he read something. Hopper didn't  turn to look at him, nor did he take his eyes away from his reading , bit he mande a gesture for Richie to go on. "Can I go to the city?"

That made Hopper turn to him.

"Why do you want to do that?" The man asked, serious. I'm

"I saw an arcade and wanted to play for a bit. Haven't gone inside one of those in ages, you know? I miss it." He gave Hopper his best smile  "Besides, it's almost Halloween and if El and I can't go trick or treating we should at least have some candy to eat." Hopper didn't seem convinced. "Pretty please?" Richie poked Hopper's cheek "Come one, Hops. Please, please, please, please , please. The prettiest of pleases."

The older man sighed, rumbling his temples and looking as if he was question his life decisions. Richie wouldn't be surprised if he truly was doing just that.

"There will be some conditions" Hopper warned, but Richie knew he had already gotten what he wanted.

"Thank you so much, Hops!" Richie exclaimed. He gave Hopper a quick hug and ran to El's room. "He said yes!" Richie celebrated "Which candies will you want? I already have my favorites listed so if you want I can give you some advice to..."

Hopper tuned the conversation down and went back to focusing on his reading. He shook his head and sighed, wondering how did he end up in that situation, but a smile was there on his lips.

+++

"I'll pick you up right here at 7. Don't be late." Hopper told Richie as he dropped him off at the arcade.

"Aye,aye, Captain!" Richie made a salute which only made Hopper roll his eyes.

"See you later, kid." He said and drove away.  
Richie watched the car go for a few seconds, one of his hands resting over the twenty dollar bill Hopper had gave him for the day. He put his hoodie on and started walking, deciding he would buy the candy first. He had promised El some chocolate after all.

Not longer than fourty minutes later Richie found himself walking towards the arcade. His backpack full of candy and his pocket full of quarters. A smile was already stamped on his face even before he set a foot inside the place. The neon lights and overpriced games smiled at Richie as he made his way through the place since he refused to play before he knew every single one of the game options he had.

Richie should have known, he should have expected it. He was distracted as hell,walking around aimlessly in a arcade on a Friday night. He was bound to bump into someone. Richie felt his elbow colliding with something and then heard the yelp, more of surprise than of pain.

"Oh shit!" Richie turned around to see a small boy with a bowl cut rubbing the side of his head "I'm so sorry!" He apologized.

"There's no problem" The boy just waved his hand at Richie " I should have been watching where I-" The kid stopped talking as he landed hus eyes on Richies face, his expresion changed completely a total of three seconds.

Richie knew what the boy was going to say before the word left his mouth.

 "Mike?"

Richie froze.

"Are you in a disguise or something? Is this suppoused to be a prank of some kind? You look pale as hell, are you okay? Do you want me to-"

"Will? Who are you talking to?"

There. He'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"What the hell" Will whispered and his head moved from Richie to Mike several times.

"What?" The voice asked, confused.

That was when Richie raised his head, moving his gaze away from his shoes to his brother's eyes.

Mike had been holding some coins in his hand. They all fell to the ground.

"What the heeell." Will whispered again.

Richie couldn't speak, he could only stare. Mike was so much different from what he remembered. Richie couldn't see the small boy screaming at him, no, he saw his reflection. A teenage boy with big brown eyes with bags under them, curlish hair and a scared expression. Richie could feel he would start to hyperventilate soon,but he did not move. He couldn't move.

 _Deep breaths_ , a voice he didn't quite recognize anymore whispered to him, _You're okay._

Mike was the one to break the silence

"Richie?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> First of all, I want to thank everyone for all the nice comments I've received. You guys made my day ♡  
> I decided to divide this story in 4 chapters instead of 2 bacuse there is a lot of scenes I want to write and this way I'll update more frequently. Next chapter will take some time to be up, though, cause shit will start to go down. Om another hand, it will be a bigger chapter than this one and the previous one!  
> Another thing! IMPORTANT WARNING  
> I forgot to include a part of the story in the last chapter. I've alresdy fixed it, but if you read it without it things may be a little bit confusing. I recommend reading it if you haven't, it begins at "The feeling of safety was not one he was willing to give up."  
> Hope you guys like this chapter! I sure had fun writing it

Life, apparently, really enjoyed messing with Richie because seriously, there was no other explanation. If the universe's personal hobby wasn't making Richie's existence harder, then there would be no way he would see himself in the situation he was in.

"Richie?" His brother asked. The brother who he hadn't seen in years. The brother who had abandoned him. The brother who looked just like him in the exterior, but was a completely different person on the inside.

Mike, Richie's twin, was standing in front of him, calling his name.

It was too much.

Richie had never been really good at dealing with emotions and mostly just ran away from them. He was a 'repress it until it's gone' kind of guy, with a few exceptions for when things got too bad and, even when he did acknowledge the presence of emotions different from his default 'everything is fine hahaha nothing to worry about ', he usually dealt with them by himself. Not always the best course of action yeah, but it always worked in one way or another.

Thing was, Richie could handle heartbreaking waves of sadness, he could handle anger so strong it instinctively made his hands curl into fists, he could handle overwhelming fear lonely nights usually brought, he could handle feeling so happy his heart felt like it was going to explode, he could handle the anxiety that took over his body every time he thought about the uncertainty of his future. Richie could handle all that.

He could not, however, handle all of that at once.

Mike's reappearance was a wave of emotions that hit Richie so hard it made him out of breath. It was too much, way too much.

So Richie ran.

He took off, ignoring the voice behind him calling his name and trying his best not to let the tears in his eyes fall because they would blur his vision and he would have to stop to clean his glasses and he didn't want to stop.

"Get out of the fucking road,kid!" Some angry man screamed from his car when Richie almost got ran over by it, but the boy  didn't stop moving. He kept on running, bumping on people and objects and getting yelled at, but he kept on running.

Richie only stopped when his legs physically gave up and the effort to keep the tears from falling became too much. He threw himself at a tree for support, his backpack pressing hard against it as Richie slided to the ground, brought his weak knees to his chest and pressed his forehead against them as if it would provide any source of comfort from the pain he was feeling. The tears he managed to hold for what felt like hours were falling freely now and all Richie could hear were his own sobs and gasps as well as the sound of his heart beating.

It felt like he was back to his younger self at the orphanage. A small boy sitting alone in his room, sniffing and cleaning the snot with the sleeve of his shirt, head hurting from crying too much and swollen eyes. In a normal day, Mike would have been by his side at that moment, gently rubbing his back and whispering comforting words. His brother's presence would have been enough to calm Richie down and he would have been back to his normal self in no time. But there was no Mike then. In fact, Mike was the reason Richie was crying that day.

It hurt to know that Mike was also the reason he was crying now.

If Richie thought about it, he believed he could say he was pretty much in the same position as his younger self all those years ago: sad, confused and alone, crying about his brother. Funny, right? But actually, no, he couldn't say such thing. As Richie felt two hands come in contact with his shoulders he realised that he may be just as sad and confused as he was then, but he was definitely not alone.

The sudden touch made Richie's head shoot up and,when he had finally blinked enough to at least see something other than a blurry figure in front of him, all he wanted to do was go back to his previous position and hope to disappear.

"Richie" Mike said, but it wasn't a question this time. He seemed out of breath so Richie deduced he had been followed the entire time. Mike had followed him the entire time.

"Richie" Mike repeated himself.

"G-go away" Were the words Richie managed to get past the lump on his throat. It hurt to speak and Richie didn't really know if it was because of how much he had cried or because of what he was saying.

Mike stared at him and perhaps Richie was just seeing things, his glasses were blurred and wet with tears after all, but it really looked like he was crying too. It didn't matter, though. Richie didn't (want to) care.

"Go away" Richie repeated and prepared to hide his face against his knees again when the foreign pair of hands moved from his shoulders to his back and pulled him into a hug .

"No" Mike whispered in his ear as he adjusted Richie's head so it could rest on his shoulder. "I'm not going away." The hug got tighter. "Not again."

And, as if he hadn't just cried his heart out ten seconds before, Richie turned on the waterworks again. He didn't even know why he was crying anymore. Was he happy? Sad? Angry? There was so much happening at the same time. So fucking much. Too fucking much.

"Breath, Richie" Mike's calm words got past the mess that were Richie's thoughts. One of his hands stroked his brother's hair in a soothing way, hoping to calm him down. "Just breath."

They were back to their younger selves again and it hurt, it hurt so much, but at least Richie wasn't alone anymore.

"Why did you leave?" Richie asked in between sobs, shaky voice and trembling hands. "I needed you." He admitted. "I needed you and you left me there."

"We will talk about it later" Mike answered.He sniffed quickly.

Those words seemed to work like a switch to Richie. He pushed Mike away, anger consuming his entire being so fast it hurt.

"No!" Richie screamed and he was ashamed at how broken he sounded despite how furious he felt. "I've waited years, Michael! I want to talk about it now, you asshole!" He pushed his brother, who now stared at him with wide eyes, again and this time Mike fell on his butt. "Stop running away from things!" Richie screamed despite how ironic it was. He was just so angry.

"Why are you screaming at me?!" A very confused Mike asked.

"Why are _you_ screaming at me?!" A furious Richie answered.

"Richie!" Mike threw his hands up, making and exasperated noise. He sighed, clearly annoyed. "You're insufferable!"

"I know!" Richie said back, but he wasn't talking as loud as he was before. Instead, he felt his body deflate like a balloon, a type of tiredness he knew but wasn't quite used to taking over. He scrubbed his eyes with his jacket and cursed his body for still having tears. "I know." Richie repeated as low as a whisper. "Is that why you left?"

The question seemed to have gotten Mike by surprise. The boy's eyes got so big it was almost funny and his mouth even dropped a little. He stayed like that for a few seconds before a sad expression took over his features.

"I'm sorry, Rich" He said and slowly got closer again. He didn't try to hug Richie this time, he just sat by his side, back pressed against the tree.

"You should be" Richie grumbled and Mike let out a quick laugh.

"Yeah" He agreed "Yeah, I should"

They stayed quiet for some minutes, the science only being interrupted by Richie's ocasional sniffs. Taking a quick look at his surroundings, Richie could immediately tell he had no idea on where they were. All he could see were trees. He felt like he should be more worried about that, but he couldn't really bring himself to care all that much.

"What are you doing here, Richie?" Mike asked carefully, breaking their silence for real.

"I don't know" Richie answered truthfully. "I felt like this place was calling for or some shit like that. I don't know if that makes much sense."

"Hawkins is a weird town." Mike said and there was a seriousness to his tone Richie didn't quite recognize. When Richie turned to look at him, Mike was staring at nothing as if there was something there, looking right back at him. It kind of scared  Richie for a few seconds before Mike finally snapped out of it and turned to his brother with a tentative smile. "Or maybe it was just me with our twin superpowers" He joked.

Richie let out a sound that wasn't quite a laugh, but was trying to get there somehow. That seemed to satisfy Mike, though, and the smile stayed on his face for a little bit longer before he sighed.

"I was mad at you. On the day I left." Mike began. He played with the hem of his shirt, avoiding eye contact. "I kept on thinking about how selfish you were 'cause you were all about getting out of that place, but you made no effort at all to be more likable for the adults." He paused, took a long breath, continued. "Every time I denied a couple I felt as if I was throwing my future in a garbage can and it hurt, Richie. It hurt a lot. I felt like a failure, like I would never be anyone in life. And then I looked at you, all goofy and care free and I was just so angry because how could you act like that? How could you smile at me and tell me it was going to be okay? " Another pause, another deep breath. "I was just so frustrated and directed it all on you and-"

"It was my fault" Richie admitted before Mike got a chance to continue " I was a pain in the ass, Mike, you deserved better than to be stuck with me"

"And you deserved better than to be left behind!" Mike practically screamed "We were on that together, Richie, we needed each other and I just left! I kept on telling myself how much of a selfish asshole you were,but the truth is-" Mike looked up and blinked, trying to hold back the tears. "The truth is that the selfish asshole is me. It's- it's me." Mike blinked a few more times and then gave up, finally turning to Richie again, a couple of tears escaping from his eyes. "I'm sorry" He sniffed "I'm so sorry, Richie"

"I'm sorry too, Mike."

They hugged again, tighter this time, and Richie felt a sense of belonging and relief he had never felt before. Richie's hands were shaking a little bit, but so were Mike's. They stayed like that for a few minutes and then Mike pulled away with a small smile. Their silence, although comfortable, seemed out of place.

"Guess is my turn to explain some shit to you, huh? Must say, it is quite the tragic superhero backstory." Richie commented jokingly, but Mike didn't take the bite. His brother was one of the people who could read him the best after all. Richie sighed. " I ended up being adopted, to everyone's surprise. Guess all that I needed to quit being an annoying asshole was a few abandonment issues."

"Richie" Mike scolded him with his weird dad-like voice. Immediately, the words _Beep Beep, Richie_ popped into Richie's head and he couldn't really tell where did they come from.

"Sorry" he apologized quickly. "Anyway, I'm now Richie Tozier" He turned to Mike"Uh, you?"

"Mike Wheeler" Mike responded easily.

"Wheeler, huh? Sounds cool, I guess, but it has an unfortunate similarity to weiner, don't you think? Are you bullied  because of it or something? 'Cause like, I'm not a bully or anything, but maybe some jokes here and there are kind of necessary to always remin-"

"Richie" There it was, the dad voice again "You're getting off topic"

"I know" Richie sighed and groaned, hiding his face with his hands. He could feel Mike's hand on his shoulder as a careful, if not a bit awkward, attempt to provide some comfort. "I just... I don't want you to pity me or anything like that, you know? I'm more than a sob story, okay? I'm not-I'm not a lost cause."

"I know" Mike said confidently and it was enough for Richie.

"Okay" He said and took his face out of his hands "Okay" He repeated and took a deep breath "Dad cheated on mom." Richie said quickly "Then she started getting drunk a lot and father would get angry a lot and I was usually the one who suffered the consequences."

Mike didn't ask what the consequences were.

"Do they know you're here?" He asked instead.

Richie shook his head slowly.

"What?" Mike's voice was pure confusion, as if he wasn't really expecting that answer "Richie" The dad voice was back and Richie wanted to scream "Did you run away from home?"

"Maybe" Richie shrugged.

"Richie!" Mike put his hands up, an incredulous look on his face. "What the hell! They must be worried about you!"

"They're not." Richie said seriously " If anything, they're probably happy I'm gone"

"Don't say things like that, Richie"

"It's the truth, though" Richie sighed and hugged his knees a little closer. "They stopped caring about me a long time ago" Mike didn't say anything to that, but he didn't need to. Richie turned to his brother with a mean glare. "Stop blaming yourself, Michael"

"I can't" Mike admitted. "You shouldn't have to go through shit like that, Richie. I just, I wish I was there for you then."

"You're here for me now, aren't you?" Richie let go of his knees to pass one arm around Mike's shoulders and bring him closer. "I may be the Batman with my sad shit and dark vibe, but you are definitely the Superman." He ruffled Mike's hair affectionately with his other hand "Good guy with your boy scout honour, loved by all and all this stuff."

Mike chuckled.

"If you say so" He shrugged.

"I do" Richie sighed."Seriously though, don't blame yourself for shit you had nothing to do with, yeah?"

"Yeah" Mike sighed too. "I'm sorry anyway"

"I know"

"Good" Mike smiled a little, but then a frown overtook his features. He turned to Richie, wide and concerned brown eyes. "If your parents don't know you're here, where are you staying? And food! Are you eating okay? How long have you been here? Do you have any cash? Oh God, are you sleeping on the stree-"

"Mike!" Richie cut him off. Seeing Mike concerned about him brought a good warm feeling to his chest, though. "Don't worry about  it. I'm staying with a friend."

Mike frowned.

"Who?"

Richie prepared himself to answer when a scream beat him to it.

"Found them!" A familiar voice said and caused both boys to turn to look at it's owner: a small boy with a bowl cut.

"Will?" Mike muttered under his breath.

The boy, who Richie now knew was named Will, wasn't alone. Two other kids appeared from the trees (they were completely new for Richie, but he didn't doubt Mike knew them both) and so did a third, bigger figure.

"Hopper" Richie whispered and it made Mike turn to him, confused.

"You know Hopper?" He asked.

Again, Richie hadn't time to answer. Will and the other two kids had approached them fast and were now staring at them with wide eyes.

"Holy shit" One of the boys, curly hair and wearing a cap, said. "Mike has a clone."

"Shut up, Dustin!" The other kid scolded.

"You shut up, Lucas!" Dustin complained.

"How about you two shut up?" Will glared at them and turned to Mike. "You okay?" He asked gently.

"Yeah" Mike nodded. "Uh" He looked at Richie, then at the kids, then back at Richie and at the kids one more time. "Guys, this is Richie. My brother."

"Hi" Richie greeted them awkwardly.

"Holy shit!" Dustin screamed, both hands holding his head and giving his surprise expresion even more emphasis.

"Language, kid" Hopper said, having finally joined them. Dustin whispered an apologize to which Hopper just nodded quickly before turning to look at Richie. "You okay, kid?" It was subtle, but there was concern in his tone. It made Richie smile.

"Yeah." Richie nodded "Sorry for not following our deal."

Hopper shrugged and the other four children watched the exchange with either wild eyes or deep frowns.

"Is everyone confused as hell or is it just me?" Dustin asked and Richie could feel that the boy was starting right at him.

"I'm with Dustin on this one" Lucas agreed.

"Yeah" Will nodded.

"Guess we have a lot of explaining to do then" Hopper said but his eyes didn't leave Richie. _Is it okay?_ His look asked the boy and Richie nodded with certainty. Hopper visibly relaxed." We won't have this conversation here, though, so come on."

He didn't wait for answers and began walking back. Will offered a hand to Mike and helped him up. Mike cleaned his pants the best way he could at the moment and then offered his hand to Richie, who happily accepted it. Will began to walk on front of them, following Hopper and Richie and Mike did the same. Dustin and Lucas stayed a few feet behind, watching Mike and Richie with curious eyes.

"This is so strange" Dustin whispered to Lucas who nodded. If the other four guys had heard them, they would agree as well.

It was okay, though, they had seen stranger things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to make the joke, I'm so sorry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who once again changed the number of chapters? Yup, that's me!  
> I've decided to do it 'cause writing long chapters takes too long and I have a lot planned for this story so for now on I'll be posting smaller chapters than initially planned (this one for example) but will do it more frequently!!  
> Hope you guys enjoy this!

Hopper guided the boys to his carefully parked car on the side of the road.

Richie was quick to take the front seat, not that anyone else would reclaim it, and the other boys tried to figure out how they would all fit in the back. Dustin and Lucas began a small argument that was quickly shut down by one mean glare from Hopper. Mike, then, told him they were all supposed to go to his house after the arcade and he had already told his mother they would be out for awhile, so there was no need to call parents. Hopper seemed quite relieved with the news and started the car.

The silence lasted exactly one minute and twenty-four seconds.

"Soooooo" Dustin tried to whisper to Mike, which shouldn't be so hard considering they were sitting pretty close to each other, but ended up being heard by the whole car. "Why did you never say anything about having a brother?"

"He was scared you guys would realise he's the evil twin" Richie answered half because he really wanted to make that joke and half because he needed to make Dustin aware of the fact that they could all hear what he was saying.

Mike snorted.

"Keep telling yourself that" He answered playfully and Richie laughed.

It was a good distraction, even if only lasted a few seconds since Dustin's curious eyes were already glaring at Mike's. Before answering, Mike searched for a Richie's eyes in the car mirror and, when they made eye contact, tried to ask if it was okay for him to tell Dustin. Richie nodded.

"Soooo?" Dustin pressed a bit.

"I thought I would never see him again so it didn't seem worth mentioning." Mike finally said.

It was kind of true, he really did think that, but it also excluded the major factor that made him keep quiet for so long: shame. How could he say he had abandoned his own brother?

"Not worth mentioning?!" Dustin asked, incredulous "Are you even aware of how cool it is that you have a twin brother?"

"Why, thank you" Richie said, but was ignored by the others.

"Well, you only think is cool now because he's here. I know you, Dustin!" Mike pointed a finger at the boy in question "You would ask me hundreds of questions that I would not know how to answer and then we would both get frustrated and it wouldn't be cool at all!"

"He has a point" Lucas agreed while Will just nodded.

Dustin rolled his eyes at them.

"Sure, sure" He waved his hand around, almost slapping Lucas in the process which owned him a nasty glare Dustin pretended not to see. "You can't judge me, though. Anyone would be curious about a lost twin brother. And! Since said twin brother is now here with us, is more than plausible for me to ask questions. Answer away!"

"You haven't asked anything, Dustin."

"Oh yeah" the boy brought a finger to his chin and tapped it lightly, looking up. Lucas rolled his eyes at him and Will smiled a little. Then, a few seconds later, the finger left his chin to point up. "I know! If you two know each other,then you weren't separated at birth,right? Why were you two apart then? And why Mrs. Wheeler never said anything about having another son? "

"Richie isn't mom's son." Mike said and, seeing the confused stares he was receiving, he explained. "I'm adopted."

"What?!" Dustin practically screamed. "And you never thought to mention that either?! Why are you so full of secrets, Michael?!"

Everyone else ignored him.

"Wait, so where are your parents? " Lucas asked.

"They left us in an orphanage when we were little, we've never met them." Richie was the one who answered and immediately all eyes turned to him. He pretended not to mind the attention and continued. "We grew up together there until Mike got adopted"

"Weren't you...'" Will began to ask, but stopped himself, sensing the subject might be a sore one. Richie appreciated the thought, but answered the implied question anyway.

"Nope" He said with a shrugh. "At least not by these Wheeler guys. I was adopted a year or so later, by the Toziers."

"And you guys couldn't contact each other?" Lucas asked.

"No" Mike shook his head.

"Then Richie's parents didn't know you were here when they moved?" Dustin questioned.

"I don't even think Richie knew Mike was here" Will said with care " He seemed quite surprised about seeing him at the arcade."

"William stands correct." Richie told them, looking at Mike's reflection in the car mirror. " It was quite the surprise"

"Imagine what your parents will say!" Dustin spoke up "Man, how crazy it is that from all the cities for you to move in this is the one you chose?"

"Do you parents even know you have a brother?" Lucas asked Richie.

"They don't" Richie answered "Honestly, I don't think they ever will"

"Aren't you gonna tell them?" Will frowned, the confused look on his face matching Dustin's and Lucas'. "I mean, even if you don't, won't they eventually find out?"

"Unless Mike agrees on a road trip to" Richie's mind raced to find a name of place to complete the phrase and he found himself surprised he couldn't remember the name of the city he got out of. "Maine" He said simply and there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice he hoped no one had noticed. "No, they won't" 

"Holy shit!" Dustin screamed and everyone in the car would agree he'd been saying those words a lot. "Do your parents know you're here?"

"Not really"

"Holy shit!"

"Won't they be worried about you, though?" Lucas asked.

"No" Richie answered and, by how coldly the boy spit the word, everyone knew not to press the matter (or, in Dustin's case, knew not to say anything at the moment and ask Mike about it later).

"Where are you staying then?" Will asked with concern and it only made Richie's likening towards the small boy grow bigger. (He reminded Richie of someone, but he couldn't say who it was.) 

"Worry not" Richie moved his head to the left with a small smile, pointing at the silent driving figure. "Hops over here is taking care of little ol' me at the moment"

"How long?" It was Mike's voice and he didn't sound happy. His reflection in the mirror only confirmed Richie's theory: Mike was serious and glaring daggers at Hopper's head.

"This is not what you should be pissed at me about, kid" Hopper said. He had chosen to stay silent most of the conversation, preferring to let the boys solve their problems and answer the questions in whatever way they judged most fitting.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked and his tone wasn't softer.

"I mean that keeping Richie away from you wasn't really my idea. He just wasn't ready for the reunion yet, you surely know why." At those words, Mike's angry glare turned into a look of shame and he dropped his head to stare to the ground. "Don't worry, though, you'll get to be angry at me again in no time."

Five pairs of confused eyes turned to him.

Hopper turned to look at Richie's

"I'm taking them home" He said.

Richie's face glowed with understandment. He knew the full story, Hopper had explained it to him after he'd been told about El's powers, so he knew about Mike's realshionship with El. 

_"Miss Mike" El had told him. "But dangerous."_

The bad men, is what the danger was called. Richie couldn't tell why, but those guys didn't scare him as much as he thought they should. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a low voice whispered that he had dealed with worse and that's why he wasn't so easily frightened by such a...human threat. He didn't understand what that meant.

"Home?" Mike wasn't mad anymore, just confused. "You mean to your house?"

"Not really" Hopper said. "Don't worry too much, we're almost there"

"Why is everyone so mysterious?! " Dustin complained loudly. "What happened to no secrets between the party members?"

"I'm not a party member" Hopper said and it earned a roll of eyes and a groan from Dustin.

"You guys?" He pointed his fingers at Mike and Hopper "The worst"

Hopper smiled a little and Richie could see Mike smiling a bit too. It made himself smile then and, suddenly, everyone in the car was laughing. It made a good, warm feeling make its way into Richie's chest and, for a few seconds , everything seemed alright.

The feeling didn't last.  
  
Will's happy face turned into a frown, wide eyes  and slightly open mouth. His hands, which rested in his knees, were now strongly gripping his jeans. He gasped and the noise was what made the other boys turn to him.

"Will?" Lucas called, voice wavering with fear.  
Will didn't answer him, he just kept staring ahead, eyes not really focusing on anything.

"Will" Mike called this time.

Will's head twitched, once, twice, and then his lost eyes turned to stare at Richie's. Richie stared back confused. Will seemed scared, no, he seemed terrified, and, judging by how intense his glare was, Richie was the source of said fear.

"You okay, Will?" Richie asked carefully, not breaking eye contact.

Will leaned forward and grasped Richie's arm, pulling him closer. He put his mouth close to Richie's ear and whispered low enough for only him to hear:

" _It_ said you made it hungry" And the voice coming out of that mouth didn't sound like Will's. "Too hungry to sleep" It sent shivers down Richie's spine "We'll all float soon" Will let go of Richie and moved his head so they were making eye contact. He brought the hand that was previously holding Richie's arm up and pushed Richie's nose twice "Beep, beep" He said with a creepy smile.

Then, just as quickly as it arrived, it was gone. Will's body fell backwards, his back hitting the car seat with a soft thud. The boy blinked a couple of times and shook his head.

"What the fuck" Dustin muttered under his breath, vocalizing everyone's thoughts.

"Will?" Mike called again, now extending his head to touch his friend's shoulder.

Will blinked again, not only out of confusion this time, but also to try to contain his tears. His mouth opened and closed multiple times, as if he was trying to say something but physically couldn't.

"I-I-I-I don't-I don't know what- I don't" Will tried. He looked at his friends with pleading eyes. "I don't know what happened"

"Stop the car" Richie suddenly said. He stared at the ground, still as a rock with a mind moving at a hundred miles per hour.

Hopper was quick to do so and, as soon as the car came to a stop, both passages of the front seats jumped out. Hopper quickly made his way to the back and opened Will's door to check if he was okay, while Richie grabbed his backpack and ran. He didn't make it too far, it wasn't his objective anyway, and chose a random tree to lean on.

 _Breath_ , a soft voice told him, _You're okay._ Whose voice was that? Why was it so familiar and at the same time so foreign?!

"God fucking dammit" He whispered to himself  as his shaking hands tried to open the backpack to pull a cigarette out.

Will's ( _no_ , it hadn't been Will, it had been...something else) words replayed again and again in his mind.

Beep Beep, he had said. And that smile.

Where was it from? Why couldn't he remember?

"Fuck" Richie cursed and lighted the cigarette in his hand, taking a long drag before expelling everything at once. "Fuck"

Why were his memories so foggy?

_Sewers. Gray water. Trash. Bodies._

"Fuuuuck" One more long drag.

_Monster. Creature. Fear itself._

What had it been?

Why couldn't he fucking remember?!

_We'll all float. Float. Float. Floatfloatfloatflo-_

"Richie"

Richie's had shot up, the cigarette dropping from his hand and his foot instantly stepping on it out of reflex. El stood in front of him, concerned eyes and worried expression. She wasn't wearing a jacket and, by the way she was trembling, she had been out for quite a while.

"What are you doing here, El?" Richie asked and was was fast to take off his jacket and wrap it around El's shoulders. He thanked his past self for putting a long sleeved shirt.

"Tried finding you. Too lonely without you." She said adjusting the jacket. Richie smiled at her, but she didn't return it. "Found you and Mike and other friends, but" She gripped Richie's arms, looking panicked. "Found danger, too."

"What kind of danger?" Richie questioned. El had probably seen the same thing as Will and with her help maybe Richie would be able to remember. "What did you see, El?"

El opened her mouth to answer, but her eyes caught up on something behind Richie and she immediately let go of his arms. Richie frowned at her and turned his head to see what had took her attention. He shouldn't be too surprised to see the figure staring at them a few feet away.

"Mike" El said in a low voice before calling him again, louder this time " Mike!"

She ran towards him and he opened his arms to welcome her there. Richie watched as they hugged, whispering words are each other and smiling. Dustin and Lucas appeared to, both screaming El's name before running up to her and Mike. Something about watching them made Richie's heart hurt.

_Lucky seven. Losers. **Friends**._

Richie's eyes widened as memories came rushing in and he stumbled a little trying to catch his breath. Images flooded his mind, too fast for him to fully comprehend them.

_A silver bicycle with a tall boy riding it. He had determined eyes and a nice smile. In the memory, he smirked at Richie and punched his arm playfully. "Sh-shut up, T-trashmouth" He said._

_Bill Denbrough._

_A boy with curly hair holding a bird book sat beside Richie. He pointed at a tree and said something to which Richie replied with some stupid joke. The boy turned to him with a mean glare that soon transformed into a a kind smile. He rolled his eyes. "I didn't invite you here to be subjected to such humor" He complained._

_Stan Uris._

_A girl with fire in her eyes and hair. She stole Richie's cigarette and took a drag from it, showing him a yo-yo that rested in her other hand and giving it to him. "You do it like this" She moved her hand in the air in a fast movement and turned to him with a grin. "Now you try"_

_Beverly Marsh._

_A boy in a farm listening to Richie's ramble as he worked, humming every now and then and laughing whenever Richie made a joke. He cleaned his sweaty head with the end of his shirt motioned for Richie to follow him. "Let's get some water. You can tell me the rest of your math class adventure on our way there"_

_Mike Hanlon._

_A chubby kid reading a book, occasionally stopping to give Richie an unimpressed look. Although he wasn't looking at Richie, he was paying attention to what the other boy was saying, even nodding at some parts. "Don't worry too much about that." A sigh "There are worse things that can happen ."_

_Ben Hanscom_

_A small boy holding an aspirator close to his chest. If you looked at him at that moment you would think he was pissed out of his mind with his deep frown and slightly scrunched nose, mouth closed in a thin line of disapproval. Richie knew better, though, and his eyes betrayed the angry facade he was trying to put on. "Don't call me that, you know I hate it." He said, but Richie knew he was lying._

_Eddie Kaspbrak._

_Five boys and a girl jumping off a small cliff into the water. They splashed each other and laughed, carefree and happy until they weren't and the water around them became the nasty one from sewer tunnels. Laughs turned into screams and playful fights turned into life or death situations. A paper boat floated in the gray water and a boy in a yellow raincoat cried. He was missing an arm, something took it from him_.

What? What was it?

_Monster. Creature. Fear itself._

What was it?

_We all float down here, Richie. You'll float too._

What was it?!

"Richie! Snap out of it!"

Mike's scream took him out of his trance and everyone slowly came back to focus. He was sitting on the ground, back pressing again the tree, a similar position to the one he had been earlier. Mike and the others stared at him with their worried, if not a bit scared, eyes. The memories had made their place into Richie's head and he now understood things a bit better. He still needed to figure out the most important piece of information his mind seemed to have left out. He looked away from Mike.

"El" He called the girl. She promptly took a step forward and kneeled close to him. El seemed to already know what he was going to ask but the vocalized it anyway. "What did you see in there with us?"

"What are you talking about, Rich?" Mike asked and Richie turned to him angrier than he wanted to be.

"Shut up, Mike" He snapped, harsher than planned, and Mike instinctively leaned away from him. Richie turned back to El. "What was it, El?"Her face contorted into a pained expression and Richie became more desperate. "What did you see?" He pressed and El stared at the ground instead of looking at him. "What did you see, El?!"

"Bad" She whispered, almost too low to be heard. She raised her head then and the pained expression was still there when she uttered the next words. "Bad clown"

 _Clown_.

"C-come again?" Richie asked and his voice broke. He would be embarrassed if he wasn't so scared.

"Bad clown, Richie." She repeated "Next to you."

Richie blinked and then he saw it. Coming from  behind a tree in the distance was a red balloon with big, black letters printed on it. Beep Beep, it said.

"Pennywise" Richie mumbled and it all came crashing down.

_Monster. Creature. Fear itself._

_**Pennywise, the dancing clown**._

They hadn't stopped it that summer. No, they hadn't even gotten close to it. Pennywise wasn't dead, it had simply relocated itself.

And Richie walked right into its trap.

"Shit" He cursed, the thought of his imminent death finally settling in. "Shit, shit shit!" He brought his hands to his head, curling his trembling fingers on his hair in a sad attempt to stop them from shaking so much. "I'm gonna die." He said. " It's gonna get me and It's gonna kill me and I'm gonna die"

"Don't you dare say things like that, Rich!" Mike scolded and El nodded, but it did nothing to calm Richie down.

"You don't understand!" He screamed through gritted teeth.

"No, you don't understand!" Mike screamed back."We take care of each other, Rich. No matter the danger." He continued and Richie could see Dustin and Lucas confidently nodding behind him. "I won't let whatever the hell it is get to you."

Richie wanted to belive him. He really did. Mike had had his fair share of traumatic monster encounters too and he turned out mostly fine. It acceptable to belive him when he said he could defeat Pennywise. Mike had his loyal friends at his side. Mike was brave. Mike was strong. Mike was determined.

But also...

Mike was naive.

It didn't matter how brave or strong he thought he was. It didn't matter how much determination and willpower he and his friends had. The power of friendship hadn't worked for Richie, it sure as hell wouldn't work for Mike. They would never defeat Pennywise.

Realization hit Richie like a slap to the face. Panic and fear crawled into his chest and made their home there, painfully squeezing his heart. 

Mike could not protect him. Mike could not take care of him. Mike could not save him.

But

 _He_ could save _Mike_.

After all, Pennywise was after him and, for the all powerfull ancient being it claimed to be, it was quite the resentful bastard. While Mike and his friends were just food to it, Richie was revenge and he bet revenge would taste better.

"Yeah" Richie breathed out. "Yeah. You're right" He lied.

Mike believed him.

"I am" The boy reassured with a smile, but  Richie couldn't bring himself to smile back just yet. Mike payed no mind. "Come on" He called while standing up.

He offerend El a hand once he was up on his feet and she accepted it with a smile. Mike, after El was also up, turned the same hand to Richie. Richie didn't really want to get up, he could feel his legs violently trembling, but it was kind of important for him to do it since it would put more credibility into his 'I totally belive you when you say things are gonna be fine' act. Oh well. He could only hope that if his shaky legs put him down Mike would offer to help him up again.

Richie inhaled. Richie exhaled. Richie got up.  
It went better than expected. He managed to steady himself enough to keep standing. Lucas offered him a kind smile as they made eye contact and Dustin did the same. Then, it occurred to him that neither Hopper nor Will were anywhere to be seen.

"Where's-" Richie began, but there was no need to finish. His question had already been answer as he saw Hopper walking towards them, Will's small figure following close behind.  The Chief's eyes widened when he saw El and the girl quickly let go of Mike to walk to him. Mike watched the action with a frown, clearly confused.

"I had to" El told Hopper when they got close enough to each other. "Saw danger too close to friends." 

Hopper stared down at her determined face, unsure of what to do. She had disobeyed his direct orders,yes, but Hopper couldn't ignore the relief he felt by seeing El safe and sound with them instead of alone in the cabin. He chose to bring the girl closer and wrap his arms around her in a hug that she returned. Hopper couldn't deny that danger was too close to them and they had a better chance by sticking together. 

With that thought in mind, he turned to look at the small boy behind them. Will was pretty shaken up about the incident, Hopper could tell. He had seen fear in the boy's eyes before, but nothing compared to how desperate he was a few moments back, how tightly he grabbed Hopper's arms and how panicked he sounded when he begged Hopper to get Lucas and Dustin out of the car after Mike had left to follow Richie. Will's eyes had said it all: he hadn't wanted his friends to see him like that.

_"I'm scared" Will had cried to him "I don't know what that was, but it was angry!"_

That phrase alone already made Hopper tense, he hated how terrified Will looked. Then El showed up claiming to have seen danger near her friends and Hopper's already growing bad feeling only got bigger. Something about that sequence of events told Hopper things wouldn't be like they were with the Demogorgon. They would be much worse, much harder.

"I'm glad you're okay" Hopper told El when he finally let her go.

Mike was at her side in a matter of seconds, already getting daggers at Hopper, fists clenching. Nothing more than the reaction Hopper already expected.

"You knew she was back." Mike screamed and took a step forward, one finger pointing accusingly at Hopper. The man raised both his hands, as if he was dealing with an angry animal. "You knew! And you locked her away, you sick bastard!"

"Calm down, kid" Hopper said, but it only made Mike angrier.

"Calm down?" He asked, incredulous." Calm down?! Do you have any idea on how worried I was about her?! Any idea on how desperately I needed a response?! How the fuck can you tell me to calm down?!"

"It was too dangerous!" Hopper screamed back.

Mike gave him a humorless laugh.

"It was no more dangerous than it is now." He spit the words at Hopper as if they were venom. "How could you?"

"You don't understand"  
 

El observed the exchange with wide eyes and almost the same distressed expression Dustin and Lucas had on their faces. The argument had grabbed their full attention, so no one saw Will quietly walk away from Hopper and closer to Richie.

"I'm sorry about what happened" Was the first thing Will said after stopping next to the boy. He was looking at the ground, ashamed.

"It wasn't my intention, , I just- I couldn't control myself properly. " He hugged himself "One moment I was there in the car with you guys and on the other I wasn't anymore and everything around me was dark and smelled bad (the sewers, Richie's mind supplied) and you were there too and behind you-" Will stopped, but Richie could fill the gap. Will continued anyway, after some deep breaths. "Behind you was a clown."

"Pennywise" Richie murmured darkly "That's it's name"

"I'm surprised it even has a name." Will turned to look at him, face full of concern. "Why is It so angry at you, Richie?"

Richie sighed. His head was still a mess, so he  felt like he couldn't really be sure of anything, but a few crucial points.

"My friends and I kind of ruined its meal a few..." He frowned "Months? A few months ago? I'm not sure, my memories are all fucked up"

"Because of It?" Will asked.

"Most likely."

Will hummed and they silently watched as the argument slowly came to an end.

Richie could see everything happening in front of him, he could see mouths opening and closing, surely forming words, he could see the expressive hand gestures everyone was using, he could see how El, Dustin and Lucas ended up entering the conversation ar some point. He could see it all, but his brain wasn't really processing it. Richie couldn't understand what they were saying, couldn't pay enough attention to decipher the sounds and form words with them. His brain was already too focused on the task of remembering.

Bits and pieces flew around (like bodies in a sewer) and Richie tried his best to put them together somehow. There were the good memories, the ones that had he and his friends  having fun, laughing at stupid jokes, watching movies and biking around. There were the bad ones, which included his father's worst moments, a boy named Henry something chasing him, his friends leaving (he talked to Hopper about it, didn't  he? How could he forget?), pain, sadness, loneliness.

And then, there were the memories he had of Pennywise and the sewers, the most confusing, but also most vivid he had. He could remember that smell of those tunnels, the feeling of the water soaking his shorts, the panic in chest, the adrenaline in his veins. He felt as if he was there, but he couldn't quite see where there was. The sounds were loud, the smells were strong, the feelings were vivid, but the images were blurry. He could barely remember Pennywise's face, the only thing in his mind being very orange hair and a sadistic smile. Just those two things were enough to send chills through his body.

"I'm scared" Will commented and Richie could tell by his voice tone that the boy was not looking for reassurance or anything like that, he was simply stating a fact.

"Me too" Richie admitted, voice a bit shaky due to how overwhelming the idea of death coming to get him pretty soo was. Will probably understood what he was going through, which was definitely not a good thing.

Richie caught himself starting to wonder if the clown would let it end quickly or if It would make it last and felt a lump form in his throat as the realization he would probably die a slow and painful death finally settled in. Funny thing was, even though such thoughts were dancing around Richie's mind, he still felt a sense of security wrap around him as he looked at the people around him. Maybe he was being too pessimistic. Maybe things would actually turn out okay.

"He's angry, Richie" Will whispered to him. "I can feel it."

Richie sighed. He couldn't trick himself like that, he had to accept reality even if it scared him. Life was never a fan of Richie Tozier anyway, why would it be different now?

"If the stupid clown wants to fight" Richie told Will with the perfect amount of fake confidence needed to get his determination through without it showing how fucking terrified he was as well. "We will fight"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit has finally hit the fan, huh? Don't worry, it will get worse >:)  
> Once again, thank you all for all the nicee comments, you guys make me the happiest person in the world!!  
> Feel free to tell me ypur opinion on this chapter! Do you like where the stoey is going?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as I said, shorter tha the others but posted quicker. Please tell me if you guys prefer I keep doing this or if you think it's better to go back to bigger chapters that take longer.   
> Hope ypu guys enjoy this!

Hopper looked at the six kids in front of him, at the car and then repeated the action twice. _There's no way they'll all fit there,_ he thought, sighed and massaged his forehead. At that rate, he would have to buy a mini van. 

"I need to call back up" He told them. "I think I saw a cafe not too far from here, they must have a telefone we can use" 

"So you go and we wait here?" Dustin asked from his spot next to Lucas, both boys leaning against a tree. Mike and El stood close to them while Richie and Will were a bit further away from the group.

"No" El shook her head, a serious expression o  her face "Stay together" 

No one dared to contradict her. 

"All right" Hopper said and adjusted his pants. He gave his car, that was once again carefully parked on the side of the road, one last look before motioning for the kids to follow him. "It will be a ten minute walk, I think" 

The kids followed. Hopper walked ahead, leading the way. They didn't have much space, since none of them wanted to walk in the middle of the road, so everyone organized themselves in pairs: Mike and El were right behind Hopper, chatting with each other in a low voice, Dustin and Lucas were next and then, again a bit further away from the rest, were Richie and Will. Neither the boys could completely explain what made them so drawn to each other. Will suppoused it was the fact that Richie could,even if not completely, understand what he was going through while Richie imagined it had something to do with the familiar feeling Will seemed to give him. Whatever the reason, the boys walked side by side.

"Richie" Will called and Richie hummed in acknowledgment "I need you to promise me something"

"Go on" 

Will started to walk a bit more slowly and Richie followed his pace. If they were far from the group before, they were even farther now. 

"I wasn't in control of myself in the car" Will stared ahead as he spoke. "Something took over me and I couldn't do anything to stop it. That time it only made me say a few words but- If it happens again it-I'm worried that-" Will paused and took a deep breath. Richie watched him with the corner of his eye. "I need you to promise me that if it makes me try to hurt you guys you will stop me" Another deep breath "No matter what it takes to do it." 

Richie's eyes widened.

"Will, I can't-"

"I'm not asking you to kill me!" Will was quick to add. "I mean, unless it is the only way, but honestly? I don't want to die." Will sighed " It's just...those guys would let me kill them, Richie" He wraped his arms around himself. " They can't see the bigger picture like you can so if i ever comes to that you have to promise me you will protect them from me."  Will stopped walking completely and hold Richie's arm so he would do the same. "Promise me, Richie" 

Looking at he boy's pained eyes, Richie was tempted to say no. Will didn't deserve to suffer any more, none of them did, they shouldn't have to deal with that kind of shit. However, Richie knew better. Hearing a no would hurt Will more than Richie ever could. He would be cruel if he let Will go on knowing that he could kill his friends because no one would stop him.

"I promise" He said, voice firm.

Will looked into his eyes, searching for even the slightest trace of disonesty in Richie's features. When he found none, he gave the boy a small smile.

"Good" Will said and let go of Richie's arm.

The rest of the walk was made in silence. When they finally arrived at the cafe, they all waited outside while Hopper went to use the phone. The kids stood close together, in silence, alternating between looking at each other and looking at the ground. They stayed like that until Mike sighed loudly.

"We are not like this" He said " We don't walk on eggshells around each other. There's no need for this to be awkward" 

"That's easy to say, Mike." Lucas' eyes lingered at Will for a second too long as he spoke the next words "Things are weird."

Will flinched at that, hugging himself tighter. Lucas immediately realised it and turned his gaze away, ashamed. He didn't want to make Will feel bad. It was just- what happened on the car had really scared him. Richie sighed.

"El and Hopper told me about what you guys went through" Richie said with the firmest voice he cluld manage. " The Upside Down and the Demowhatever" 

"Demogorgon" Dustin corrected. 

"Yeah, that. Thanks, Dustin. Thing is, you've all been through some pretty bad shit and being thrown into a paranormal mess again is pretty shitty, but we don't really have choice"  His hands curled into fists at his side and he stared at the ground " At least I don't really have a choice" Richie said, more to himself than to the others. He looked up. "The thing that was in the car is not like the Demoguy" 

"Demogorgon" Dustin corrected again.

"Yeah, yeah, that. This name is hard, sorry."

"No problem, man" Dustin comforted with a smile. "I understand" 

"Thanks, dude"

"Can you get to the point?" Lucas demanded, clearly annoyed by the pointless exchange.

"Yeah, sorry." Richie apologize quickly, kind of hurt Lucas had to end the distraction so soon. He couldn't really blame the boy, though, could he? " The thing in the car" He began again. " It appeared to me and my friends at my home town before. We thought we had killed It, but apparently we were wrong as you can see." Richie nervously tapped his fingers against his thigh."This thing presents itself as this big weird clown and it likes to eat kids and suck their fear or some messed up shit like that and it took my friend's little brother and ate his arm and that was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life because the kid got back but it wasn't really him, it was the clown because the motherfucker can shapeshift into your fears and It lures you into dark places where it changes and attacks you and it attacked my friend in the sewers and tried to eat his face with its monstrous teeth and everyone was so scared that day because the clown had taken our friend and we thought we were going to find her body floating in the sewer water because the clown wanted to kill us all and then we..." Richie blinked.

Where was he?

Where was Bill?

Richie blinked again and looked up. None of the kids staring at him were Bill. Bill had been leading them, hadn't he? He was the one that put them all in that mess in the first place! Where was he? 

"Where is Bill?" He asked the air, but what answered was one of the kids in front of him.

"Where whi is? Richie are you okay?" 

Looking at the kid who answered Richie found out the boy looked a lot like him. Was it a reflection on the water? Oh god, was he so crazy he was talking to his own reflection? 

"Richie?" The reflection asked again and

Richie took a step away from it.

His head was sofoggy. He was lost in the tunnels, wasn't he? They were so confusing!

And where was Stan? Did he ran off again? He shouldn't do that! What if the clown catches him? It would kill him this time! Where was he?!

But

Where was Richie?

He had to find himself before finding his friends, right?

"Richie!" The reflection screamed and slaped him across the face, not too hard to really hurt, but hard enough to nake a difference.

This time, Richie wasn't in the sewers after blinking a couple of times. He was on the outside of a random cafe with his twin brother Mike staring at him with eyes full of concern.

Oh.

"I think I spaced out for a while" Richie told him. "Sorry"

Mike gave him a sigh of relief. Behind him El did the same.

"Sorry for slapping you" Mike apologized "You weren't responding to anything" 

"No, it's okay. You did great. I was- I was lost there for a second." 

"Bad clown" El murmured and Richue hummed in agreement.

"This has been a very weird day" Dustin commented loudly.

"Tell me about it" Richie agreed and turned to look at the boy's shocked eyes, also seeing Lucas'  matching expression. "Sorry again. You guys probably think I'm crazy"

"What? No." Lucas said but he didn't convince anyone. Dustin didn't even try to cover it and settled to shaking his hand and head as if to say 'yeah, kind of'. 

Mike rolled hia eyes at both of them while El chuckled. Will just watched Richie, worried. 

"What happened?" Will asked. 

"My memories are weirder than I thought they were" Richie bit his lip "This may happen again sometime" 

"Well shit" Dustin commented and was ignored.

"You asked where someone named Bill was." Mike told him. "Do you remember who's that?"

"Bill?"

 _Bill Denbrough. Silver bicycle, the fastest of them all. They hopped on it and biked away, the monster right behind, its claws trying to reach them and cut through their flesh.  If not for Bill Richie would have been dead but again, if not for Bill Richie wouldn't have been on Pennywise's hate list either. " W-we have to stop It" He had said. Naive boy, didn't he know how stupid that idea was? Pennywise would kill him. Pennywise would kill them all._

Slap! 

"You did it again" Mike explained as Richie rubbed his sore cheek.

"Sorry" Richie apologized for what felt like the hundredth time that day "Bill was my friend. He was kind of the leader of the group. Had this mean stutter, but sure knew how to give a speech." 

"Any idea on why you wanted to know where he was?" Mike asked.

"He was with me. When we fought It. He and other 5 friends. I think I need to find him again."

"Do you know where he is?" Lucas asked.

Richie shook his head.

"No, not really." Richie sighed. "One more thing to the list of things I have to find out." 

Hopper chose that moment to exit the cafe, turning all the attention to him. He turned to Will first. 

"Your mom is gonna come get us" Then he turned to Mike. "Joyce will call your mother and tell her the sleepover has been rearranged to Will's house." Then to the rest of the kids. "Let's get back to the car" 

Before Richie could follow Hopper, El stretched her hand to grab his arm. She pulled him close so she could whisper in his ear.

"Can find Bill" She said "Just need picture" 

Richie smiled and shook his head.

"No can do, El. I think we will have to go the big ol' phone book, but thanks for the offer" 

El pouted a bit.

"Want to help" She complained.

"You always help, don't worry"

Those words seemed to be enough for the girl. She hummed in agreement with a proud smile on her face and let go of Richie's arm to begin walking after Mike. Richie followed soon after.

The trip back to the car was one made mostly on silence, said silence staying even when they arrived at their destination. The mood was still weird and now Richie didn't even dare to try to change it. Look how well it had gone before. Mike kept quiet too and in the end the one to break the silence was, surprisingly, Lucas.

"I'm scared" He said and all eyes, including Hopper's, turned to him. "But what Mike said before is true. We take care of each other and I-" He sighed " I will fight whatever demon clown comes in our way if it means I'm protecting you guys" 

"Me too" Dustin was quick to agree.

"Count me in as well" Mike said and El nodded beside him.

Richie and Will looked at each other. Will's eyes were clear: _protect them_ , they pleaded. Richie nodded. 

"Yeah" Will agreed as well.

"Sure" Richie also said. 

Hopper warched the exchange with a proud smile, but also with worry in his eyes. He didn't need those kids in trouble again, even less now that there was more danger. Will had told him bits and pieces when there were just the two of them in the car. The clown, as ridiculous as it sounded, didn't seem to be a force to be messed with. 

Richie looked around at his friends' smiling faces. The sense of safety took over again, but he pushed it way quickly. He couldn't fool himself like that. Every mistake he made was one step closer to imminent death and he promised Will he would be there to protect the boy's friends.

"So now that we have settled this matter" Dustin said, taking Richie out of his thoughts "Can we discuss something else? I mean, not that I don't love talking about creppy murderous clowns, but why not go into lighter topics for a while, huh? The weather has been crazy these days, hasn't it?"

"We're not talking about the weather, Dustin" Lucas complained.

"Then help me out, jackass!" 

"Cold weather" El said and Mike nodded in agreement.

"See?" Dustin gestured towards El "She gets it!" 

Lucas rolled his eyes.

"Maybe we could plan a trip to the arcade again tomorrow" Will suggested " We didn't really get the chance to play much today." 

"Hell yes!" Dustin patted his pocket "I still got more than half of my coins in here!" 

"That sounds good to me" Lucas agreed.

"Yeah" Mike also agreed. " I have to beat all your asses on Dig Dug" 

"In your dreams, Michael." Dustin scoffed " That highscore is still mine" 

"Maybe things will change tomorrow" Richie also entered the conversation. He shrugged. "Who knows?" 

"You up for a challenge?" Dustin smiled at him and cracked his fingers " 'Cause you'll lose" 

"We'll see" 

They talked a bit more about video games before they were abruptly interrupted a car horn. Joyce Byers exited her car, which was parked behind Hopper's, and walked towards them. She frowned.

"Why are there two Mikes?" Joyce asked and turned to Hopper.

Hopper stood by her side and sighed tiredly. 

"It's a long story" 

  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you asked me about the other losers i the comments of last chapter and I'm here to tell you that next chapter will be very focused on them, so don't worry! Your questions will be answered soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to even try making a posting schedule anymore. I don't have what it takes to do it, guys, i'm disorganized af.  
> So sorry for everone involved.

Richie liked Joyce Byers. She was kind, had a warm smile and Richie could clearly see she tried her best to be understanding. After Hopper had explained the situation to her, she had only nodded and turned to Richie with an extended hand and a smile. _"It's nice to meet you. I'm Joyce Byers."_ She had said. It had been no more than a greeting, but it had made Richie feel very happy for reasons he hadn't understood at first.

Now that he sat in Hopper's car and stared at the blurry view out of the window, alone with his thoughts, he realized he liked Joyce so much because her entire being screamed 'mom' to him. That's why he had felt the need to make her proud. That's why he had felt a strange sting of jealously when he saw her hugging Will and affectionately kissing the top of his head, bringing the boy closer to her and caressing his hair. That's why he felt that same jealousy when Joyce hugged El and looked at her as if she was her own daughter.

"I want a mom too" Richie murmured to himself  as to settle the new information into his brain.

"What is it, kid?" Hopper asked, looking at him with the corner pf his eye from the driver seat.

"Nothing" Richie dismissed."I'm just thinking out loud"

"Is it your memories again?" Mike asked from his place next to El in the back seat. He had this concerned expression in his face that Richie was seeing way too frequently for his likening.

"No" Richie sighed "It's really nothing to worry about"

"Promise?" El asked and they all knew he couldn't lie to her.

"Promise." He answered.

That seemed to be enough for everyone. Mike and El went back to chatting and Richie went  back to tuning their conversation out and staring at the window.

Joyce Byers was a good person, Richie could tell, she didn't deserve all the shit that had happened to her. Richie suppoused he would have to get use to it though, it being good people going through shitty things, Joyce Byers included. It didn't mean it wouldn't hurt him to see them suffer.

Richie sighed against the window. Joyce Byers was now one more reason for him to try his best to protect Will and the others and since just imagining a disappointed expression on her face already him flinch so bad he would have to try twice as hard.

Ha.

As if it mattered how hard he tried.

Richie would never defeat Pennywise. Not alone at least. 

_That's scary, isn't it? Aren't you scared, Richie?_

Richie shook his head to shush the voice.

"We're here" Hopper told them and the car stopped.

Richie exited the car carefully and let everyone walk ahead of him. He wasn't really part of the group, even if they had been together for a few hours.

_You're not really part of anything, are you Richie? Isn't that scary?_

He ignored that train of thought and began to walk faster.

"Sorry for the mess, I wasn't really expecting visitors today. " Joyce said "Are you kids hungry? Do you wanna eat anything?"

"Eggos" El said.

"...I'll see what I can do"  Joyce smiled and walked towards the kitchen.

"Where's Jonathan, mom?" Will asked as he followed his mother.

"He's out, dear. I think he said something about Mike's sistier taking him costume shopping for a party"

"Nancy?" Mike frowned.

"Sister?" Richie frowned as well.

"Oh! I forgot to tell ya" Mike turned to Richie with a sheepish smile "I have two sisters, Nancy and Holly" He explained " They're nice. I think you'll get along well"

"Sure hope so" Richie murmured, but in all honesty, he wasn't very excited to meet them.

More people meant the possibility of creating new bonds and the ones he had made him stressed enough.

_You can't save eveyone, Richie. Isn't that scary?_

Dustin cleared his throat and the attetion went to him.

"I think we can all agree this has been a very long day for everyone sooo how about we eat some popcorn and watch some movies, huh?" Dustin suggested "Isn't that a good idea?"

The kids looked between each other. They had a lot to worry about, everyone knew that, but a little distraction wouldn't hurt, right Just for a little while.

"I think it's a very good idea, Dustin." Mike smiled at the boy and the others quickly agreed as well.

It wouldn't hurt to loosen up a bit, would it?

+++

Turned out loosing up was easier said that done, at least for Richie. The credits of their second movie were rolling uo the small TV screen and Richie watched the sleeping bodies of his recently made friends. He couldn't follow them, though, no matter how long he kept his eyes closed.

(Because if he kept them closed for too long, a creepy smile would come greet him at the darkness behind his eyelids and it wouldn't stop laughing until his eyes were open again)

"God dammit" Richie whispered to himself.

He got up, careful not to step on Dustin's sleeping body, and turned off the televsion. He briefly contemplated going back to his spot next to Mike on the couch, but decided against it. He wasn't going to be able to sleep anyways.

That's why Richie found himself sitting alone outside the Byers household at 1 am smoking the last cigarette of his pack. It was quite the sad sight, but Richie tried his best not to care too much about it. Instead, he focused on the burning sensation in his chest in contrast to the cold night air and on the pen and paper he had taken from some random counter that rested in his hands.

One of his friends, Eddie Kaspbrak was his name, had once told him that lists always helped to make things easier. A list wouldn't solve hia problems but it would at least make them more organized. He tapped the pen on the paper, staring ahead, and thought about where to start. When he finally decided, Richie began to work. He wrote the as best as he could with the poor light sources and made a neatly drawned square next to his words so he could mark down the actions he had already completed.

_Richie's to do list_

_1- Find Bill Denbrough and talk to him □_

_2- Find the other guys with Bill's help □_

_3-Find more information on what is happening □_

_4- See if Will or El have any more visions.Talk to them about it every time it happens□_

_5- Discover where Pennywise is hiding □_

_6- Find some weapon to keep close □_

_7- Defeat Pennywise □_

Richie looked at number seven and quietly laughed to himself. If he was able to tick that box he would be the happiest boy alive, that he was sure of. The rest seemed... manageable enough. If there was one thing Pennywise wasn't, it was discreet and if Richie didn't find out where it was hinding It would probably tell him sooner or later.

"Richie?" A tired and quite confused voice called his name, making him turn so fast he could swear he almost broke his neck. "What are yo- Are you smoking?!"

"...no?"

A sleepy Mike Wheeler glared at him from his place next to the front door. The blanket he had been using on the couch was wrapped around his shoulders and it looked like a dark cape.

"You shouldn't smoke, Richie" Mike scolded as he walked towards his brother. Once close enough, he snatched the cigarette from his hand and threw it on the ground, putting it out with his shoe.

"That was my last one!" Richie complained.

"Good" Mike said with no remorse whatsoever. He sat down next to his brother, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders as well. "What are you doing out here?"

Richie sighed and pointed to the paper in his lap.

"I'm trying to organize my thoughts." He explained "Couldn't sleep"

Mike hummed and almost immediately yawned. He rubbed his eyes for a few seconds and turned to Richie.

"You need the rest, Rich. Tomorrow is gonna be a big day and you must be tired"

"I know" Richie groaned and angrily folded the paper in his lap, sliding it into his pocket. "It's just difficult" 

Mike gave Richie a knowing look.

"I get them sometimes, too."  He said "Nightmares I mean. They're usually about seeing everyone I love being killed or disappearing forever."

"That sucks"  
  
"Yeah." Mike agreed. "There's nothing that makes me feel better about them, but I still try to go back to sleep as soon as I can 'cause I know I'll only be able to prevent those nightmares from coming true if I'm well rested."

"You sound like an old mom, Michael" Richie smirked and Mike punched his shoulde.

"Shut up" He said, but there was a smile in his face.

Then, a few seconds later, Mike yawned again.

"And that's my cue to leave" He told Richie and got up, taking the blanked with him. Richie whined when he was once again hit with the cold night air.

"At least leave the blanket" Richie asked.

"Nope" Mike grinned at him. What a little shit. "You have to come inside anyway, is sleep time."

Richie sighed at his brother, but the fact that someone was taking care of him made a warm feeling spread throughout his chest.

"In a sec" He said.

Mike deflated a little, but nodded. Before he entered the house though, he turned to Richie one more time.

"Rich" He called.

"Yeah?"

"Stop with the cigarettes."

"Told ya you sound like an old mom" Richie joked, but Mike didn't laugh.

"I'm serious. They'll kill you someday"

 _Ha! I wish the worse threat to my life were the cigarettes_ , was what Richie thought.

"Understood" Was what Richie said.

Mike smiled at him and muttered a good night before slipping inside the house, leaving Richie alone with thoughts once again. The list in his pocket seemed to weight tons, specially number seven.

"If get out of this alive I'll quit smoking" Richie quietly promised himself. He could already imagine Mike's proud face.

With one last sigh Richie got up. He stretched a bit until a yawn made its way to his face.

"Sleep time it is" He murmured.

Richie tiptoed back to his spot in the couch where Mike already slept soundly. He shut his eyes tightly and wrapped himself in his own blanket. When the creppy smile appeared he didn't open his eyes, he simply ignored it until it went away. A few minutes later, Richie joined the others in their slumber.

.

.

.

Richie woke up with sunlight hitting him directly in the face. He groaned and blinked, lifting one hand to protect his face while the other searched for his glasses.

"Fucking sun" He grumbled and sat up.

Richie put the glasses on his face with another groan and looked around the living room. Everyone was still asleep, comfortable and happy. 

"Why do you hate me so much?" Richie asked the sunlight. Unsurprisingly, it did not respond.

Richie yawned once and wrinkled his nose at how dry his throart was. He would need to get some water so, still glaring at the sunlight, Richie stood up,streched and made his way to the kitchen.

The house was uncharacteristically quiet and it kind of creeped Richie out. He didn't like quiet places like that, he wanted people up and talking, screaming and chatting, using the fire they had inside their bodies. Too bad no one  was very excited to be up and alive at, Richie glanced at the clock, 6:50 AM on a saturday.

"Fucking sunlight" Richie grumbled again and reached for one of the glasses on the counter.

He drank all the water in one big gulp and reached to fill it again, wondering how long it would take for somebody else to be up. Not too long was the answer because a few seconds after Richie downed his second glass of water the front door was open. Footsteps were heard, then they stopped and then were heard again and a older boy with a haircut that kind of looked like Will's and a worn out black backpack over his shoulder entered the kitchen.

The boy looked at Richie, frowned adn took a few steps back unti he was once again in the living room and could look at Mike's sleeping figure in the coach. He entered the kictchen again, looked at Richie up and down, frowned some more, opened his mouth, closed his mouth and finally sighed in defeat.

"Okay" He said " What the fuck?"

Richie laughed a bit at that.

"It's kind of a long story." He walked towards the kitchen table and sat down. "You must be Jonathan, right?"

"Yeah" Jonathan answered and also sat at the table, calmly putting his backpack on one of the empty chairs. "I have no idea on whoo you are, though"

"I'm Richie." He extended his hand " Mike's twin brother"

Understandment took over Jonathan's features, but he still frowned a bit when he extended his own hand to shake Richie's.

"I didn't know Mike had a twin brother" He said.

"Yeah, that's when the story gets long" Richie let go of Jobathan's hand and set his at the table. " We were adopted by different families, I'm from Maine. We-"

Richie couldn't go any further on the story though, since the attetion of both boys went to Joyce's sleepy figure on the doorway.

"Have you just arrived, Jonathan?" She asked with a yawn, then smiled at the boys "I see you have already met Richie"

"I...yes, mom." Jonathan got up to give her a hug. He put his hand insode the backpack and took out a square shaped box, giving it to her " I saw this at the halloween shop and thought of you"

She smiled and started to open the box as Jonathan watched with expectant eyes. The box was finally opened and Joyce got a Best Mom mug out of it. Her smile got wider.

"Oh, Jonathan." She hugged him again, whispering her thank you's in his ear.

Richie instinctively tried to make himself tinier, afraid he was intuding a private moment. He felt uncomfortable, a strange mix of awkwardness and jealously settling in. Fortunately, it didn't last too long.

"Well" She said, still smiling, but also looking at Richie now "Since you boys are both up, you wouldn't mind helping me with breakfast, would you?"

"Child labor? I think Jonathan will have to take that mug back." Richie joked and he thanked God and whoever else was listening for the fact they both laughed.

"Don't be a drama queen, Richard. Go get some eggs"

"Yes, ma'am"

The normality of the situation surprised Richie a bit. Joyce treated him as if she knew him already. As he opened the fridge to get the eggs, he briefly wondered if it was because of his similarity with Mike. It made a lot of sense in his head. It should be difficult to be suspicious of someone who had the face of Will's longtime best friend.

"Do you cook, Richie?" Joyce asked as he settled some eggs on the kitchen counter.

"A bit" Richie answered, the memories of the countless times he had to make food for himself flooding his mind.

"Great. I'll let you be in charge of making pancakes then. Is that alright?" Richie nodded " Good, good. Can you get the rest of the ingredients for him, Jonathan?"

"Yeah" Jonathan answered.

And then, as Jonathan put the ingredients on the counter next to eggs and Joyce gave him the utensils he would need, Richie let himself play make believe for a few minutes and imagine he was really part of the Byers family. Joyce was his kind mother and Jonathan and Will were his cool brothers and he saw Mike and the others every day because they were very good friends. Maybe, in the parallel universe in which Richie was adopted by the Byers, Mike was adopted by them as well and maybe Hopper and Joyce were married and El was also their sister and they all lived in a happy household. His friends from Derry were there too and they were all save and happy. No Pennywise. No upside-down.

"Your pancakes are looking good" Joyce commented from behind him.

"Thanks, mom" Richie answered absentmindedly and that was when his happiness was replaced by pure panic and his fantasy word crashed down to make place for reality "Mrs. Byers!" He quickly corrected himself, turning to her with an apologetic look. His cheeks burn."I meant Mrs.Byers! Thanks, Mrs.Byers"   His shoulders dropped and he lowered his head, turning back to the bowl in the counter "I'm sorry"

Richie didn't see the surprise in Joyce's eyes turn into fondness. Neither did he see the kind smile she shot his way.

"It's okay, Richie." She told him.

Richie nodded, but he didn't feel any better. If anything, he felt more embaressed.

"Is he okay?" Jonathan whispered to his mother, having watched the whole exchange 

Joyce sighed and shrugged.

"Hopper said the family that adopted him wasn't very nice" She whispered back "I think he's a very lonely kid."

Jonathan hummed and went back to his task of setting the table. From time to time he glanced at Richie with the corner of his eye. Richie seemed like a good kid, he really did, but Jonathan couldn't help but wonder if his sudden appearance meant something bad was going to happen.

"Pancakes are almost ready" Richie told them.

" 'm gonna wake up the others" Jonathan mumbled and Joyce nodded at him as she helped Richie with the pancakes.

He shook his head as if it would make his suspicions go away. It wasn't that he didn't like Richie, it was just that Wilk didn't need anymore problems. Speaking of Will. Jonathan poked his brother's sleeping figure.

"Hey" He said gently "Wake up"

Will groaned a bit, but opened his eyes soon enough. He blinked at his brother.

"Jonathan?" He called.

"The one and only." Jonathan smiled " Slept well?"

"Yeah" Will yawned and sat up " What time is it?"

"Breakfast time" Jonathan answered "Can you wake the others? Your new friend made pancakes"

"You mean Richie?" Wilk asked. Jonathan nodded. "Is he alright?"

Jonathan's smile vanished.

"Why wouldn't he be?"

Will seemed a bit taken aback by the harshness of the question. He frowned at Jonathan before answering.

"Yesterday was a weird day. For everyone" Will said and the look he gave Jonathan said 'details later'

"...I see. Well, I'll be waiting for you guys at the table, yeah?"

Will nodded and turned to wake Lucas up as Jonathan returned to the kitchen. Richie was finishing tha last pancakes, a content smile on his face. Even then, Jonathan couldn't help the bad feeling that spread inside his chest because of Will's words. Richie was a good kid, sure, but he also bad news. Bad news Will didn't need nor deserved.

"Pancakes are ready!" Richie said, loud enogh for the kids in the kiving room to hear.

"I freaking love pancakes" Dustin's sleepy response was heard. 

El was the first one to enter thw kitchen. She walked straight to Richie and looked at his pan with curious eyes.

"No Eggos?" She asked.

"Not today, Ellie Belly, but pancakes are just as good"  Richie answered with a smile.

El still seemed a bit disappointed in the lack of eggos, but she smiled back. Watching the exchange made Jonathan's worries deflate a bit and he felt a smile of his own appear in his face.

Soon enough, the kitchen welcomed four other children and the breakfast could finally start. They all sat down at the table and Richie and  Joyce brought in the pancakes.

"Bon appétit!" Richie told them and watched anxiously as everyone took their first bites.

"Good" El was the first to comment, immediately taking her second bite.  
Richie looked visibly relieved and he thanked

her and all the other small compliments the others gave him. The rest of the breakfast was filled with noise and laughs.

"-and they all had these weird cat shaped human heads!" Dustin excitedly told them, moving his hand around his head as if to show how those heads were. "It was the weirdest dream I've ever had."

"Not weirder than the wet dreams I have of your mother." Richie mumbled without thinking. His eyes widened and Lucas, the only one who heard that comment, burst out laughing.

"What?" Dustin asked, confused. Lucas ignored  him and turned to Richie, who still looked quite mortified.

"Dude" He said.

"It was like a reflex" Richie tried to defend himself and it only nade Lucas laugh more.

"What happened?!" Dustin asked even more confused and was once again ignored by Lucas.

"I don't know" Richie said, more to himself than to Dustin. New memories were entering his mind at an alarming speed.

_"Shut the hell up, Richie!" A small kid with a fanny pack scolded him, but all Richie did was laugh._

_"That's what your mom told me last night, you know." He poked at Eddie's cheek" We didn't want to wake you up with our noises~"_

_"Beep fucking beep!"_

"Richie?" Mike called him and Richie blinked.

"Mrs. Kaspbrak" Richie said and Mike frowned.

"Who?"

"Mrs. Kaspbrak" Richie repeated as if it answered something. "She's one of my friend's mother. I used to make jokes about her I think. I don't know.'

Mike looked like he wanted to make some questions, but he was interrupted by knocks on the door. 

"I'll go get that" Joyce told them and a few seconds later Hopper was joining them at the kitchen.

Richie looked at him expectantly.

"Have you found it?" He asked.

The night before, Richie told Hopper all the information he remembered about Bill and his family and the chief promissed he would look into it.

"Yeah" Hopper said and took a small piece of paper out of his pocket.

Richie practically jumped out of his chair, startling El a bit with the sudddn movement. He shot her a quick apologetic look and run to het the paper from Hopper's hand.

"You sure?" He asked the man.

"Only one way to find out" Hopper shrugged.

"Can I use your telephone, Mrs. Byers?" Richie politely asked and the woman promptly nodded. "Thank you!" 

Richie ran out of the kitchen, almost hitting the wall on which the telephone was with full force .

"Calm down, kid" Hopper told him, but Richie ignored him.

He also ignored the way his fingers trembled as he dialed the numbers, how anxious he felt as he waited. He held the phone next to his ear with a firm grip.

"Hello, Denbrough household." A voice answered on the other side.Richie's breath hitched. "Hello?"

"Hi! " He practically screamed and mentally scolded himself. "Sorry, hello. I would like to speak with Bill Denbrough please?"

"William!" The voice, that Richie assumed was Bill's father, shouted. "It's for you!"

"Coming!" A muffled voice answered and Richie's breath hitched again. He recognized that voice! Shit, how long had it been since he last heard it?"

"Hello, Bill Denbrough speaking"

It made Richie's heart jump.

"Bill" He said, not able to contain the relief in his voice.

"Uh yes? And you are?" Richie noticed the lack of a stutter. He wondered how Bill had gotten rid of it.

"I'm Richie. Richie Tozier. From Derry."

Bill was silent for a few seconds and during that time Richie held his breath. Was Bill remembering? Were the memories coming back to him?

"I'm sorry" The voice on the other side of the line said. "I have no idea on who you are"

It felt like a punch to the gut.

"W-what?"

"Are you sure you called the right number?"

Richie's heart broke.

"It's Richie, Bill. Trashmouth Tozier." He tried "Don't you remember?"

"I don't know who you are, I'm sorry."

Panic.

"We fought a demon clown together! In the sewers back in Derry! It killed your brother!"

Confusion.

"What the- how do you know about Georgie?!"

"Because I'm your friend! Richie Tozier!"

Anger.

"Look, I don't know who you are or how you know about Georgie and I don't know what the fuck you mean by demon clown, but I'm not the person you are looking for!"

Pain.

"Bill, please"

"Don't call me again."

The line went silent. Richie dropped the phone.

"He doesn't remember." He told Hopper. "He doesn't remember!"

" Richie, calm down"

"If Bill doesn't remember than none of them will!" Richie put his hands behind his head. "Shit" He cursed " What am I gonna do now?"

_You'll float, Richie! You'll float with us!_

Richie turned to Hopper, grabbing his arms with his shaking hands and looking at him with his panicked eyes.

"I don't want to die, Hops" Richid said. He couldn't lie to himself anymore and pretend he was okay with the idea of dying. He was not okay, not at all, he was terrified. "Please don't let me die"

Hopper put his arms around him bringing the boy closer.

"I won't." He promised, but he coukd see that Richie didn't believe him.

Everyone had walked out of the kitchen now and watched the scene in front of them. Mike was rhe first to take a step foward and he gently took Richie away from Hopper's arms to make his brother look at him.

"I already told you, Rich." He said"We take care of each other here. Everything will be fine."

Beautiful words. Such a shame they were completely useless.

"I-I need some air" Richie said and pushed Mike away, making his way to the front door.

 _Your plan is ruined, Richie,_ the creepy voice mocked _, your friends won't come to your rescue._

"Richie!" A voice screamed behind him.

"Leave me alone!" He screamed back, without turning to look at who it was.

He just needed to get away for a bit, get his shit together, absorve the fact that he was more fucked than he previously thought.

"Lucky seven my ass."Richie cursed.

He walked a few feet away from the house and he was glad not hear any footsteps following him. Richie searched in his pockets for a cigarette he knew he wouldn't find and instead found the list he made on the night before. He sighed at it and contemplated throwing it away right then and there. Richie almost did just that, but then his eyes caught number seven.

Defeat Pennywise, it said.

Sure, his plan was now ruined and he had no idea on where to go from there, but Richie couldn't give up, could he? No. He couldn't. If there was one thing he had learned from Mike was that he was not alone.

Richie took a deep breath and went back inside.

"I need a pen" Was what he told the worried faces that stared at him. 

.

.

.

_Richie's to do list_

_1- Find Bill Denbrough and talk to him ■_

~~_2- Find the other guys with Bill's help □_ ~~

_2- Think of another plan □_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that canon doesn't matter in here and I've taken full liberty to do whatever I want. Hope you guys enjoyed this mess I call a plot haha ♡


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, sorry for how long i took to update amd for how small this chapter is :( I've been very busy these last few days so I've had barely any time to write. I wanted to make an update before christmas though, so here we are.  
> Merry Christmas, hope you guys like this :D

  
The plan that was carefully written on a white piece of paper consisted in 3 major steps. First was finding Pennywise (not necessarily in its physical form). Second was discovering its weaknesses. Third and final was to defeat it. Pretty simple, right?  Except for the fact that the evil clown seemed to be pretty much in total control of the situation. 

Richie wouldn't remember anything useful if Pennywise didn't want him to,El wouldn't find it unless he wanted to be found and Will couldn't choose when or where the clown would contact him.

To summarize, they were fucked. 

(That's why, in Richie's head, the real plan was to make sure that, if Pennywise was going to kill people, the list of dead bodies in Hawkins would begin and end with only his name on it.)

"I don't like this" Jonathan Byers whispered to his mother, both standing a few feet away from  the group. 

"None of us do, Jonathan" Joyce told him. In all honesty, she was just as worried as her son. The idea of Will being part of another supernatural deal was not appealing to her in any form. "But we can't control this" 

"Will doesn't have have to be a part of it." Jonathan continued. "He doesn't deserve to be a part of it" 

Joyce sighed.

"I know" She said and rubbed her tired eyes. "But I'm afraid he'll be in more danger if we keep him in the dark." 

Jonathan groaned, but didn't complain. He could understand what his mother was saying. Maybe a fight was really inevitable and if it was Will's best chance of winning was staying with his friends. Still.  Jonathan didn't want to see his little brother going through anymore trauma that he already had.

"It hid in the sewers. Back in Maine" Richie said to the others. "I don't think it's going to do the same here. Our best option is still underground places, though, so if you guys have any ideas" 

"Underground places that are not the sewers?" Dustin thought for a bit " Nothing comes to mind, really." 

Richie sighed. His grip on the table where the Plan was got tighter. He hoped his face didn't show how nervous he felt.

"Why don't you think it's in the sewers?" Lucas questioned. "I mean, if it was in there before, why wouldn't he be there now?" 

"Pennywise likes to play games." Richie answered darkly. "It won't be in the sewers. Trust me"

Lucas didn't make any further questions. Everyone stayed in silence for some moments, until El got up and silently moved away from the boys. 

"Where are you going?" Mike questioned.

"Searching" She answered. 

El closed the curtains and took of the jacket she was wearing, beginning to wrap it around her head. It was then that everyone understood  her plans.

"El don't-" Hopper began to protest, but she was quick to shush him.

"I'm our best chance" El told them while she finished with the jacket, now firmly tied around her head. "I'll be fine"

Her voice tone said it all: no one was going to make her go back on her decision. Mike sighed and got up too, walking to El and sitting down next to her. He gently took her hand on his, wrapping their fingers together.

"If it gets too much just squeeze my hand tightly that I'll get you out" He said seriously and even if she couldn't see him El nodded.  
It started off fine, at least as fine as it could be. El didn't express any reactions which, considering the circumstances, was the best thing to happen. If she was calm and quiet than nothing bad was close to her. Then the hand that wasn't holding Mike's twitched. They all watched expectantly, waiting for another sign. El went back to her unmoving form.

"I don't like this" Hopper told them and even though no one answered they all agreed with him. 

El's breath hitched and her hand twiched again before she went back to her unmoving position. Then it happened again. Richie frowned at her. Something was telling him that was bad, something was telling him that was dangerous. He couldn't quite explain that feeling or where it had came from, but Richie decided to listen to it.

"Take her out" He told Mike, who frowned.

"She hasn't-" 

Like an alarm in his head, ot screamed danger.

"I said take her out!" 

It was too late.

 El started screaming, a sound so full of terror it made everyone in the room shiver. Mike was quick to jump into action, though, taking the jacket off El's face and trying to make her open her eyes. Hopper was up in a second, Joyce too. They all gathered around El, trying to calm her down.

"No!" She screamed, eyes still firmly shut. "No! Let me go! Let me go!"

The desperate pleads of the three people around her were ignored by the girl. And it only made everyone more panicked.

"Come on, El!" Mike screamed to no avail. El was still in panic, still screaming. He them turned to Richie. "Do something!" He shouted.

Richie didn't need to be asked twice. He kneeled in front of  the screaming girl, pushing the hands that uselessly tried to contain her tremors away. El was clutching her head tightly.

"N-no" She said and Richie's heart broke at how broken her voice sounded. "Please come back" 

The words seemed to trigger something and Richie was suddenly back in the sewers. 

_Stan Uris was in front of him crying and screaming. His face was bleeding, his once clean clothes wet and dirty, everything around them smelled like death._

_"You left me!" Stan cried "You brought me here and you left me to die!"_

"We would never leave you" Richie said to El and his hands moved to take hers automatically, just lime he had done with Stan before "We love you, we would never leave you alone" He said it like he was reading the words. They were so familiar in his tongue somehow. "We're here with you. It ain't gonna get you," _Stan_ " El." 

Richie blinked and so did El, her eyes finally opening to reveal her disturbed expression. 

"We would never leave you" Richie repeated amd just like Stan had done she nodded, finally accepting the words as true. 

"Sorry" She whispered but Richie shook his head.

"There's nothing to apologize for" He told her and around them everyone nodded in agreement.

"You were brave, kiddo" Hopper told her, the man was slightly out of breath from his panicked state, and her eyes shined at his words.

"You're never doing that again though" Mike quickly added before enveloping Eleven in a bone crushing hug. He sniffed, trying, and failing, to mask the fact he was crying. "I'm not loosing you again" 

El seemed a bit surprised by his action, but it didn't take long for her to hug him back tightly. Joyce sighed in relief at the scene and turned to Richie with a kind smile. He smiled back, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. 

Something felt...different about that memory. It didn't make his head hurt, it didn't make him unaware of his surroundings, it didn't suck him into his past and left him stuck there until someone smacked his face or screamed his name loud enough. No, that memory felt...good. In a way at least, seeing it was not a pleasant memory, but it still felt better than all the others he remembered. Pennywise couldn't have been the one that showed said memory to him, it had to have been something else. Maybe Richie was remembering on his own? It made sense, but how convenient was it for him to remember exactly what he needed at the exact time he needed it?

Maybe, and Richie was taking a wild guess here, maybe there was another big force helping him. Not as strong as Pennywise, but strong enough to help a bit. 

"Thank you" Richie murmured and hoped there was something to hear it. 

He turned gis attetion back to the others. Mike still held El's firmly in his, but they both seemed to have calmed down enough. Everyone eagerly awaited El to say something.

"Tunnels" El told them. "Tunnels below Hawkins. Pennywise's there." 

"Below the what now" Dustin's eyes widened as he stared at the floor. Normaly Lucas would have smacked him after such comment. However, the boy was too busy doing the same thing as Dustin and staring at the ground.

"Suits the clown" Richie commented and got up to walk back to the table and scratch the first of their plan out. "One down, two to go. We're doing better than expected."

No one seemed even a little bit comforted by that fact. Who could blame them, though? Richie was freaked out too, he could understand.

"We still have problems with number one, Rich" Dustin said, eyes still glued to the ground "First, we have no idea on where these tunnels are. Second, we don't know how to access them. Hell we don't even know if it's possible to acess them!" Dustin rubbed his face.

"You done?" Richie asked, unamused.

"No. Third, maybe It will change locations now that we know where it is."

"It won't"

"How do know that?"

"I just do" 

"How can you be so fucking sure?!" Lucas asked and Richie jumped from how uncharacteristically angry he sounded "How can you know so many things likie that, huh?!" The boy pointed a finger at Richie's direction, poking him inthe chest with it. "Are you working for the clown,Richie? Is that how you are so in tune with the monster?" 

"Don't talk to my brother like that!" Mike stepped in.

"Is he even your brother though?" Lucas' eyes didn't leave Richie's, suspicion clear in them. "Think about it! You guys haven't seen each other in years and suddenly your lost brother returns out of nowhere with some bullshit excuse or whatever for coming here and wow! He's not alone! He's got a murderous clown after him and he oh, so desperately needs us to help him defeat it! How? By leading us directly into the clowns home!" The finger poked Richie again " Isn't that fucking convenient?"

Doubt appeared in Mike's face for only a second but it was enough. It felt like a punch to the face. It made Richie want to scream and he's about to do so, but Lucas wasn't  done yet.

"Maybe" He said, the words like venom. " you are the clown itself" 

That was the last straw.

"Don't you dare compare me with that thing!" Richie said back through greeted teeth. The anger that burned in his chest was strong enough to hurt and tears were already appearing in the corners of Richie's eyes. "Don't you fucking dare!" 

"Boys-" Joyce tried to intervene, but Richie paid her no mind.

 _Beep beep, Richie_ , another voice said and Richie ignored it as well.

"It's playing games with us, can't you see?! This is just a big game to It!" Richie took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He couldn't stop talking, though, he has already opened his mouth. "We just finished hide and seek and that fucker will be waiting for us and I-I just want it to be over, too. Just as much as you do." Deep breaths. "It only needs us to be afraid  and I'm already terrified! I'm fucking terrified and I understand you being suspicious but-" Deep breaths " But if you give up on me I'm gonna die and I- I don't want to die." Richie brought his hands up and covered his face. "Shit!" He cursed. 

"Richie, it's okay" Mike said.

"No, it's not!" Richie screamed " I have no idea on what I'm doing and everything is just so confusing and I feel like a fucking mess and I- I don't- I-" 

Richie was suddenly wrapped in a hug. He let himself melt in those arms, his words soon turning into sobs. He  was ashamed at how much he had cried, but he couldn't fucking help it! Everything was just too much! 

"It's okay, kiddo" Joyce Byers told the boy in her arms. "Calm down"

But Richie couldn't do that. He could only cry because he didn't want to face that clown again, he didn't want to die, he didn't want to be scared. He wanted to be huggef by Joyce Byers because she loved him like a son, not because he was a sobbing mess.

"It's okay" She repeated and that was the only thing Richie heard clearly, the rest was just muffled sounds. 

"I'm tired" He mumbled to her and he wasn't even sure she could understand what he was saying. "I'm so tired" 

"I know, dear." Joyce told him "You'll be fine"

And he wanted to believe her, but he couldn't. His head was a mess, totally torned between accepting his death and doing anything to survive. He was no leader, he didn't know what to do! 

_"It's okay, Richie" Eddie Kaspbrak told him in the most gentle voice Richie ever heard the boy use. "You'll be fine"_

Richie had belived Eddie then. Maybe e should believe Joyce Byers now.

"Okay" He told her "I'll be fine" 

"That's the spirit" She told him and he could tell she was smiling. 

"I'll be fine" He repeated.

"Yes, you will" Joyce agreed.

And he belived it for a second. He really did. It didn't last though, because Joyce's arms suddenly left him and her calm, gentle voice was back to panicked as she screamed her son's name and ran towards his fallen body. El soon fell too. Joyce and Dustin were next to Will, Mike and Hopper next to El. Lucas stared at Richie with wild eyes and although he didn't seem that suspicious anymore one emotion was clear in his eyes: _fear_. 

It hurt to see it.

Then, Will and El groaned. Their voice was enough to break the eye contact and Lucas turned to his friends, ready to help. Richie stayed a few feet away, afraid of getting closer.

"I'm fine" Will reassured them all before they even asked.

"Fine too" El told them as well.

"What the hell happened?!"  Dustin asked, panicked.

"Big energy." El explained and seeing everyone's worried looks she completed" Got Pennywise. Good big energy. Wants to help. Showed me things" 

"What?" Mike questioned "What did it show you?"

"The entrance of the tunnels. " She smiled at them "I know where it is"

"Did it show anything you?" Lucas asked Will amd the boy nodded, although he seemed a bit disappointed. 

"I just saw a bicycle " He told everyone "A silver bicycle to be more exact. That and some coins."

"What? For us to run away?" Dustin joked, which earned him a light punch in the arm from Lucas. 

"What do you think that means?" Lucas questioned and Will shrugged. El shook her head too.

"Well" Mike said "At least we know whe-"  
"Holy shit!" 

Everyone turned around to look at Richie, who had just screamed. His eyes were wide and when he turned to look back at his friends a smile was painted in his face.

"I think I know how we can defeat Pennywise"

.

.

.

.

_2- Think of another plan ■_

  _3-Find more information on what is happening ■_

_4- See if Will or El have any more visions.Talk to them about it every time it happens■_

_5- Discover where Pennywise is hiding ■_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea on when the next chapter will come, but I hope is soon haha  
> Another thing! Do you guys think this chapter was confusing or was it okay? I'll plan on rewriting it of it's too confusing lol


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE  
> I haven't updated since last year soooo here I am back at it again \o/  
> Hope you enjoy this!!

"Silver?" Dustin questioned with a frown "Like a werewolf?"

_Richie held tight on Bill as they attempted to escape the furious thing chasing them. Its big paw full of sharp claws striked Richie's head, his vision got dark for a second._

_"S-s-stay awake! Hold tight!" Bill screamed and the bike moved dangerously to the right._

_Richie could hear the werewolf behind them and Bill panting enough it seemed as if he would pass out at any moment and honestly? He would love to go to sleep._

_He didn't though. He stayed awake and the beast disappeared,Silver, the bike, finally fell and he and Bill fell too and they cried as and held each other because they were so, so lucky to be alive._

"Yeah" Richie agreed with a shudder he hoped no one noticed. "Like a werewolf"

"We can manage that, I guess" Mike said and he looked at Hopper for confirmation.

"We can manage that" Hopper nodded and Richie sighed, relieved. "It'll take some time though"

"At least we have a plan" Richie said "We know where It lives and we know how to hurt it. It's good enough for now."

"Yeah, for now" Lucas said "But we still have to-" He was interrupted by a loud crash.

It came from outside of the house and it sounded like someone had kicked the trashcan. Then, a loud crash again, as if the trashcan had fallen over.

"What the hell was that?" Jonathan asked.

"Hell if I know" Dustin answered. He looked at Richie, who was walking towards the door, and frowned. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to see what that was" Richie answered his hand already on the door handle

"Are you insane?!" Lucas screamed and Dustin could only nod in agreement.

Richie turned to them.

"If I'm too scared of a sound I'm too scared to defeat Pennywise." He said simply and opened the door. Richie was ready to go when a voice stopped him.

"Richie" It was Mike and it made Richie looked at his brother. Mike walked until he too was by the open door. "This is getting quite boring to repeat, but I'll say it as many times as I need to make you understand." He put a hand on Richie's shoulder and smiled " You're not alone."

_"We can defeat It if we are together!" Beverly screamed. "We're stronger than It that way!"_

Richie smiled back and the brothers stepped outside. El went too, so did Will, Hopper, Joyce and Jonathan close behind.

"God dammit" Dustin complained and he soon followed them as well as Lucas.

They instantly saw it.

"Holy shit" Lucas said.

Some...thing was eating the trash. It looked like a mix between a lizard and a snail and, most importantly, it was definitely not from the real world. Fortunately, it didn't seem to pay much attention to everyone that was observing it.

"That is not from Pennywise" Richie told them. The clown could shapeshift and all that, but that thing? That was not Pennywise. Its pride wouldn't let it disguise as that trash eating little monster.

If it wasn't Pennywise though, only one option was left.

"Upside down" El said what was in everyone's mind.

"Well shit then" Dustin threw his hands up in the air "i thought we had already dealt with this stuff"

"So did I" Hopper said " I need to go somewhere, please keep an eye on...whatever the hell that is"

"Where are you going?" Joyce asked and they both entered in their own conversation that the kids chose to ignore. Jonathan stayed back, still watching the thing with wild eyes.

"How do we keep an eye on that thing?" Lucas asked.

"I'm gonna grab a shovel" Jonathan told them and walked back inside the house.

A few seconds after Jonathan had gone away Richie turned to them.

"I think i have a plan" Richie said.

"We should wait for Joanathan" Will advised, but Richie shook his head.

"It may move before Jonathan is back and I need it in this position" Richie took a deep breath "Okay" He said "Just... try to make sure it doesn't bite my face off"

"How the hell we'll make sure of that?" Dustin asked.

Richie could only shrugh. Then, he tip toed around the monster, standing beside the fallen trash can. He slowly bent down a little, his hands coming to hold the metal as he prayed for the small creature to ignore his presence. He counted to three on his head and moved the trashcan with one fluid motion so it acted like a cage for the little monster.

"Shit!" Richie cursed as the creature shrieked and moved, hitting its body on the metal so it could free itself. A few more seconds of fighting until complete silence, as if the monster was had either accepted it's fate or died.

"Is it dead?" Will asked.

Richie slowly let go of trash can and it didn't move nor made a single sound.

"Maybe?" Richie guessed and on that moment the creature roared back to life and managed to take the trashcan off. "Shit!"

Desperate times need desperate measures was something Richie heard once and he was pretty sure his situation could totally be considered a desperate time. As the creature started to run away, Richie's desperate measure was to jump on the monster, using his weight to pine it down and his hands to keep its mouth from opening.

"Richie, you freak!" Mike screamed and ran to help his brother.

"The trash can!" Richie screamed back and Mike seemed to understand his plan as he ran to take the metal structure and bring it closer to Richie.

The little monster was still fighting, but Richie managed to throw it back in the trashcan that Mike quickly lifted upwards again. Then Will, their knight in shining armor, put the lid he had collected from the ground back on and the three of them held the trash can down.

"Wait wait wait!" It was Dustin, now walking yo where his friends were fighting to keep the trash can still "Open it"

"What?!" Mike screamed.

"Are you fucking insane?!" Richie screamed as well.

"Stop complaining and trust me!" Dustin said to both of them and turned to Will" Open it, please"

Will seemed confused and he briefly looked at Mike for some sort of guidance. Mike looked at Dustin with corner of his eye and, seeing how determined the boy was, gave Will a relutant nod.

"Open it" Mike said and let go of the trash can at the same time Will took off the lid. Richie still held it though, as the creature hadn't stopped fighting.

Dustin took a step closer and peeked inside. The little monster shrieked at him, but stopped trying to escape.

"He's just scared" Dustin told them and gave the monster a small smile "Hey, buddy. It's okay, we won't hurt you" Dustin put a hand on his back pocket and took a half eaten chocolate bar out of it. "You hungry, buddy? Here." He threw the bar inside. The creature smelled it and licked it until it finally decided the bar was good for eating. As the monster ate, Dustin turned to the others with a proud grin. "I'm naming him Dart"

"Are you really naming this thing?" Lucas, who had gotten closer to the others and now looked at Dart with a frown, asked.

"Yup" Dustin proudly said and peeked inside the trash can again. "Who's a good boy? Huh? Who's a good boy?"

"Definitely not Dart" Richie said and Dustin gasped.

"How dare you!" Dustin dramatically put a hand on his heart as the other pointed at Richie "Don't insult my son like that!"

"Dart may be bad " El said. The girl had also gotten closer. "Upside down is bad"

"I agree with El" Mike said and ignored Dustin as he rolled his eyes and muttered 'of course you do' "We have to stay alert"

"I think we should just kill it" Richie offered and Dustin gasped again.

"We're not killing Dart!" He said and Richie was ready to protest, but Will spoke first.

"Maybe we should give the guy a chance" Everyone but Dustin looked at him like he was crazy. Will only shrugged. "I mean, he can be just a very weird dog"

"You heard Will!" Dustin put his hand on the small boy's shoulder. "He's the wise one, we have to listen to him"

"Don't like it" El said and Mike nodded.

"I'll keep an eye in it" Will reasured them and no one seemed very convinced, but they all nodded anyway.

"I hope you are right" Richie muttered to Dustin.

They all watched as Dart finished eating the chocolate and, seemingly satisfied, lay down to rest. Dart's behavior was normal enough to make Will's theory of him being just a weird dog more and more plausible. Still, Richie was suspicious

"I found the shovel!" Jonathan appeared from the house making everyone's attention turn from Dart to him. The boy looked at the kids, all standing around the trash can and walked over so he could peek inside. "Oh" he said and the the hand holding the shovel lowered. "You took care of it"

"His name is Dart" Dustin told him proudly and Jonathan looked at him as if he was insane.

"You named this thing?!" He asked.

"We're all just as confused as you are" Lucas told him. Everyone but Dustin and Will nodded.

Jonathan sighed.

"I leave for five minutes and you name the monster" Jonathan muttered to himself. Will patted his back.

"We've seen weirder stuff" Will said and his brother sighed again.

"Come on, Dart is not that bad" Dustin tried to argue. He pointed at Dart's sleeping form. "See? He's even kind of cute."

"Oh sure" Richie scoffed "Bet he'll be even cuter when he bites your hand off"

"Why are you so mean to Dart?" Dustin complained.

"He's literally from nightmare world!"

"Don't judge him that quickly!"

"Uh,guys?" Mike called.

"What?!" Both Dustin and Richie said, harshly. Mike rolled his eyes at them.

"Something is happening" Mike pointed to the trash can where Dart had been calmly sleeping just a few seconds before.

Something was, in fact, happening.  Dart squirmed and the flesh on his back began to expand, a nauseating sound of bones cracking and moving filling the air. Dart roared to the skies as his body moved, changing itself into something....bigger.

"He's growing" Lucas whispered and they could all agree with him.

When the transformation ended, Dart was at least thrice as big as he was before. Big enough to-

"Hold the trash can!" Richie screamed but it was too late. Dart had already gotten out of it and started to crawl away.

"So maybe I was wrong" Dustin awkwardly laughed as the creature got further away.

"God dammit" Richie cursed and he quickly took the shovel out of Jonathan's hand "I need this thank you" He said quickly and ran after Dart.

"Richie, wait up!" Mike screamed and soon enough he heard footsteps following him. He didn't turn to look though, he couldn't take his eyes out of Dart.

"Come back here!" Richie screamed and, unsurprisingly, Dart didn't seem to care one bit about it.

Richie threw the shovel, missing by mere inches and making Dart change directions. He cursed and tried to pick up the shovel without having to stop running since Richie knew that if he stopped he wouldn't be able to go back to running. He failed and the shovel was left behind.

"Pick it up!" Richie yelled to Mike without turning around, he couldn't loose the creature.

The chase continue through the woods until Richie heard the sound of a car passing nearby. It was then that he realized: Dart was running towards a highway.

"Oh no" Richie tried to force his body to move faster, ignoring the fact he was already panting. "Dart, stop!" He screamed even though he knew it wouldn't make a difference.

Dart didn't stop. He crossed the road and Richid followed without thinking twice. The sound of tires screeching filled his ears and he was suddenly aware he had almost been hit by a car. His brain laughed at the realisation. How funny would it be if he died on a car accident when Pennywise was trying to kill him? Pretty funny, Richie would say,  but he wouldn't laugh about since he would be dead.

Oh well.

"Sorry!" Richie screamed to whoever the driver was and kept running.

He entered a new part of the woods, one he wasn't familiar with. Dart, however, seemed to know exactly where he was going: Richie lost him in a matter of seconds. It was then that the boy finally stopped, taking rapid deep breaths on his best attempt to make his lungs work again. He didn't stop looking for Dart though, he moved his head and scanned all the areas he could see.

"Fuck" Richie cursed when he didn't find any signal of Dart's presence anymore.

"Richie!" It was Mike with the shovel in his hand and behind him a boy seemingly older with a hairstyle Richie would have found weird on anyone else. The mysterious boy held a bat on his right hand, a bat full of nails. "Where is it?"

"I lost it" Richie admitted, still out of breath. He pointed to the boy. "Who's this?"

"Steve" Mike said. Richie frowned.

"The driver of the car that almost ran you over" Steve explained and things made a little bit more sense. "Don't you know you have to look before crossing the road?"

"I was quite busy at that moment, sorry" Richie said and he was finally breathing normally again " Thanks for hitting the breaks on time though"

"No problem" Steve shrugged.

"One more thing" Richie continued "What's with the bat?"

"Steve helped us with the Demogorgon" It was Mike who explained. "More introductions later, we need to find Dart"

As if he had heard his name being called, a roar  was heard followed by the sound of something walking.

"Or maybe Dart will find us" Richie murmured darkly and walked to stand behind Mike and Steve since he was defenseless

Dart appeared again, but he had changed: although his body was similar to the one of a dog his head was nothing like it. He looked like a deadly flower with petals full of teeth, ready to eat anything that stood on his way.  
It was then that the others arrived, stopping abruptly when they saw Dart's new form. El seemed the most disturbed by it.

"It's like a small Demogorgon mixed with a dog" Lucas murmured.

"A Demodog" Dustin completed.

Steve instantly took a fighting stance, holding the bat up, and took a step forward. Mike did the same with the shovel, although he seemed less confident about his movements.

"I can handle this" Steve said, more to himself than to anyone else.

And he could have handled that, had Dart been the only Demodog to appear.  
As soon as Steve took another step forward, more roars could be heard even though Dart's mouth was firmly shut.

"Oh shit" Dustin cursed, realising what that meant.

At least thirty more Demodogs appeared and  suddenly, Steve's confident exterior wasn't that confident anymore.

"I think we have a problem" He said in a low voice and took one step back.

"Pick whatever you can take from the ground to defend yourself" Richie whispered as he himself carefully bended over to take a fallen branch. "Back away slowly"

Everyone obeyed. The Demodogs weren't found of their plan however and,with one more roar from each, they attacked.

El raised her hand immediately, making three demodogs that were heading towards Mike fly into the air and hit the trees behind them with full force. Unfortunately, it was clear for everyone that El didn't have enough power to hold them all back, her nose was already bleeding, so the others used the weapons they had collect to try and contain the rest of the creatures.

Mike hit anything that came close to Eleven with thw shovel while Jonathan, who had taken a rather big branch for himself, did the same for Will. Dustin and Lucas were defending themselves as well as defending each othet the best way they could and Richie swang his branch like crazy. Steve was the one who attacked the majority of the creatures since only him had an actual weapon to use. Things were kind of going well until the creatures realized Steve was the biggest threat and started to focus more on him.

"Steve, behind you!" Dustin screamed, but even with the warning Steve couldn't do much.  
  
The creature jumped on his back and on his panicked attempt to get it off he dropped the bat on the ground. Steve manage to throw that creature, but was left defenseless against the others that were already running his way.

"Steve!" Richie screamed and, being the one who was closest to him, threw his branch to the older boy.

Steve got it just in time to swing it on one Demodog and prevent it from biting his fa e off. Richie, however, was now the defenseless one and the recently hit demodog was quick to realise just that. The thing jumped of Richie making the boy fall flat on his back, his glasses falling off with the impact.It aimed for Richie's face but he manage to put his arm on the way somehow, even with how blurry eveything looked. Blood immediately came out of the wound the Demodog's teeth made on his flesh, but Richie didn't feel pain at that moment, his body too panicked and too focused on surviving to really process what had just happened.

As the Demodog took his mouth out of Richie's arm to try and aim it at Richie's face again, the boy used his arms to push the creature back so,after quickly pushing himself up, he could kick it away.

Unsurprisingly, the Demodog recovered quickly and was ready to charge at Richie again when Steve's branch hit it again. Richie used that time to find his glasses, hands   searching the ground like crazy until they came across the familar black frame. He put on as fast as he could and now that he could again the shape of the fallen baseball bat became ten time more clearer. Richie didn't hesitate to take the weapon from the ground and stand up with it in his hands.

"Richie,left!" Someone screamed, probably Mike, and there was, in fact, a Demodog running to attack him on his left.

Richie swang the bat on the creature and the way the weapon felt in his hands was so strangely familiar. He swang it again against the other creature that dared to come close and suddenly he was back in the sewers hitting the stupid clown with his friends. Richie didn't hold back. He swang the bat again and again and again and the losers all helped with their own weapons and at that moment, with a baseball bat being firmly held in his hands, with sweat dripping from his forehead, with blood staining his clothes and with the scary clown beaten up and defeated in front of him, Richie felt _invincible_.

He stood there, painting and sweaty, eyes fixed on the clown's corpse that slowly became the corpse of a Demodog next to the corpse of anoyher Demodog and so on. The cheers of his friends turned into his brother's worried voice and when Richie blinked he was no longer in the sewers fighting Pennywise.

"Richie! Can you hear me?!" It was Mike, his brother. He was frantically shaking his shoulder.

He was in the woods fighting Demodogs.

"Yeah" Richie answered, still out of breath. "Yeah, I can hear you"

"Oh, thank God" Mike sighed in relief and pulled Richie for a quick hug. "I lost you there for a second, bud"

"I think I lost myself for a second actually" Richie blinked. "What happened?"

"You took Steve's bat and went ballistic!" Dustin chimed in, waving his hands on the air. "It was very awesome, but kind of scary to watch."

"Sorry I-" A sharp pain from his arm interrupted his train of thought. "Ouch!"He looked down at his arm, blood still coming out of it." Oh shit"

"We're heading back so we can treat that." Mike told him. "And everyone else"

Richie looked around and sure enough everyone looked a bit worse for wear. El had a trail of blood coming out of her bose and she was leaning heavily on Will. Jonathan had a cut on his cheek and his jacket was a bit torned. Lucas' had a gash on his leg and Dustin had cuts of his arm. Steve was full of scratches. Mike himself had a bruise already forming on his chin and there was a a big cut on his collarbone. Richie suspect that wasn't all of everyone's injuries.

"Ok" Richie nodded. "Let's go"

As they began to walk Richie realised he was still holding Steve's bat. He quickly made his way towards the other boy to give it back to him.

"Keep it, kid" Steve told him a a smile. "You sure know how to use it better than I do."

And at that moment, with a baseball bat being firmly held in his hands, with sweat dripping from his forehead, with blood staining his clothes, with the defeated Demodogs around them and with his new friends surrounding him, Richie felt invincible again.  
.  
.  
.

_6- Find some weapon to keep close ■_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo how was it? I'm really just playing around with canon here, so don't expect this to follow the events of stranger things 2 or It the movie/book/mini series.  
> I'll try not to take this long to update next chapter!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait!  
> Truth is, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I know it won't get better than what I have now. I'm very excited about some scenes, but they are all on the next two chapters (that will be way longer than this I promise!)  
> I wish I could just skip to the good part, but this chapter is necessary to give everything the needed context.  
> Hope you guys enjoy it anyway!

Richie let the hot water hit his back and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against the wall. He held his injured arm gently, cursing a bit every time water hit it even though he knew he would have to wash it eventually.

Joyce had been who had insisted on him taking a shower since he was the only one who had quite literally rolled on the dirty ground. The worried look she had given him made him feel happy. Not because he was making her worried, he hated to make her worried, but because the thing that she was worrying about was him. She cared and it made him feel warm.

Not as warm as the hot water made him feel though, so Richie allowed himself a few more seconds to just appreciate it before he decided it was time to deal with the problem at hand. Well, more like the problem at arm. He chuckled even though he knew the joke was bad.

"It's not that bad" He murmured to himself as he inspected his injuried arm: covered in scratches and painted with dried blood. He turned the water colder, sensing it would hurt less that way. "Just wash it already, Richard" 

Richie put the arm under the water and groaned. It stung a lot more than he had previously imagined. He used his other hand to get the soap and gently scrub his arm, hissing every now and then. The water turned a light shade of pink under his feet.

"Fucking Demodogs" Richie cursed.

He stopped after a few seconds and took his  arm out of the water to inspect it again. Blood was still pouring out of the scratches, bit it significantly less than before. Richie sighed in relief and finished his shower.  
It was just a little bit, but there were some blood stains of the towel he used to dry himself. Richie felt bad about it, but he knew Joyce would understand. At least he hoped she would. 

"Just say you'll clean it" He told himself.

He took the clothes that were neatly placed on the sink next to his glasses,some bandages and a small flask containing the medicine Joyce told him to aply on his arm. Mike had let Richie borrow some pants and boxers( the boy had some spare clothes already at Will's house since it wasn't unusual for him to end up staying the night there) while Jonathan had given him a sweatshirt.  
Richie put the boxers and pants first and then took his glasses. The lenses were a bit fogged due to the steam from the shower but he was quick to clean them. He then opened the flask and applied a bit of its content on his arm. It hurt a bit and he hissed, but it was okay. The bandages came after and finally the sweatshirt. He used the towel to dry his hair a bit, his now wet curls sticking to his forehead.

When Richie felt like he was done, he put his dirty clothes in his backpack and put the flask and the bandages on the bathroom shelf.

Before he left though, the white bandages wrapping his arm called his attention. Seeing the white material on his arm reminded him of something, he wasn't quite sure what. If there was something Richie had grown to hate those past few days was that familiar feeling of knowing he should rememeber something but being unable to. It was slowly but surely driving him insane.

He stared at the material for a few more seconds until he accepted that whatever memory that sight was supposed to trigger was not coming. Richie sighed and opened the bathroom door. Immediately, he could hear Dustin's voice.

"-and bum! We had defeated them and it was so crazy because I was so sure one was going eat my face off!" 

Everyone sat around the living room: Mike was with El and Will on the couch, Steve on one of the sofa's arms and Jonathan on the other, Joyce on a chair she had probably taken from the kitchen, Dustin and Lucas on the ground and a girl Richie had never seen before on the armchair. Weirdly enough, she was the first one to see him.

"Oh my god" She exclaimed, bringing the attention to her before all the eyes turned to what had surprised her that much: Richie. She looked at Mike and then back at him. "You guys are..."

"Twins?" Richie completed, looking at Mike in the hope to find some sort of explanation on what was going on. 

"Yeah, that" She said and got up from when she was previously sitting so he could give her hand for Richie to shake. "I'm Nancy, Mike's sister" 

"Richie" He shook her hand. "Mike's brother" 

Nancy chuckled 

"Yeah, I can tell" 

Richie smiled at her, but his eyes still searched for Mike's so his brother could give him a clue on what the hell was going on. Don't get hin wrong, Nancy seemed nice, but her sudden appearance was a bit...unsettling. Nancy went back to her place on the armchair and Richie stood there, unsure of what to do The silence was awkward, to say at least.

"Sooo" Dustin cleaned his throat. His eyes scanned the room, looking for something to comment on. He finally let his gaze fall on Richie's bandaged arm "How's the arm, Rich?" 

"Uh, as good as it can be I guess" Richie answered, looking back at the white bandage. 

"That's good" Dustin said, clearly trying to start a longer conversation, but Richie only hummed.

"Yeah"

Back to the silence. Nancy was the one who broke it next.

"Well, if you guys excuse me for a minute I really need to speak with Jonathan and Steve for a second" She said with a smile and the boys promptly got up to follow her outside.

Everyone silently watched them go.

"I'm gonna use the phone" Joyce told everyone and also got up, leaving the kids on the living room.

Richie walked towards Mike, sitting where Steve had been a few seconds prior.

"What is your sister doing here?" He asked him and Mike sighed.

"Apparently she told Steve to meet her here. I have no idea what for" Mike told not only Richie, but El, Dustin,Lucas and Will as well.

"Barb" El said and everyone's eyes, but Richie's widened.

"Oh damn" Dustin cursed. 

"Sorry, but who's Barb?" Richie asked. Everyone exchanged some glances and it only made Richie worry more. "Well?" 

"I wasn't the only one who got trapped in the Upside down" Will told him. The boy nervously tapped his thigh. "I got out. Barb..." He took a deep breath

"-Didn't." Lucas completed for him. 

"Oh" Richie said and Dustin nodded.

"Yeah" The boy said.

They stayed quiet after that, the only sound being Joyce on the phone. Richie decided to use that silence to look back at his bandage. He didn't realise how intensely he was staring at it until Mike gently tapped his shoulder.

"Does it still hurt?" Mike asked.

"Just a bit" Richie shrugged. "It just reminds me of something, that's all" 

"Of what?" Lucas questioned and now he too stared at the bandage.

"I don't know" Richie said with a frown. "It's one of those difficult memories"

"Hm" Will hummed. "Maybe you hurt your arm before? Like, broke it or something?"

_"Eddie! Eddie!" Bill and Richie screamed as they ran downstairs. The floor creaked terribly and the hole house gave the impression it would fall down at any moment, but the two boys still ran as if their life depended on it. Well, maybe not their lives, but surely Eddie's._  
_The clown smiled at them as they entered the room. Eddie waa a few feet away from It and he whimpered as he held his broken arm to his chest._

_"Don't look at It! Look at me!" Richie screamed when they somehow got past the monster to help Eddie stand and run. He could see how panicked Eddie was, how his eyes were wet with tears that left tracks on his dirty cheeks._

_They would  have died had Beverly not pierced Pennywise's head with a metal bar before he reached the terrified boys. They had all ran away like crazy after that, Richie thanking God for Eddie's small size that made him so much easier to carry._

_Mrs.Kaspbrak was not happy with the events and the next time Richie got to see Eddie they were fighting the clown again and the boy's cast had big black letters spelling LOSER with a bright red V wrtitten over the S._

_Richie teased Eddie a lot about it, but secretly found it incredibly cool._

_"You're such a lover boy, ain't ya Eds?" He said while ruffling the small boy's hair._

_"Shut up, asshole" Eddie complained even when a smile was there on his face to contradict his supposed anger. "And don't call me that!"_

"Richie!" Mike screamed and Richie was out of the memory. His brother let out an exasperated sigh. "God, I hate when you do that" 

"It's not like I can control it" Richie defended himself, blinking a few times. 

"I know" Mike said. "Still hate it" 

"What did you see?" Dustin asked curiously and Will gave him an angry stare. "I mean! If you don't mind me asking"

"It's nothing too important I guess" Richie told him after blinking a few more times. "My friend broke his arm"

"The Bill guy?" Lucas asked and Richie shook his head.

"No. This one is named Eddie. Eddie Kaspbrak"

"Won't you call him, too?" Dustin questioned.  
Richie thought about it for a second, but when the idea of talking to Eddie only to have the boy not remebered him just like Bill had he shook his head. 

"If Bill doesn’t remeber none of them will" He said simply and the others didn't ask anymore questions. 

They were  back to their silence until the door opened and Nancy, Steve and Jonathan slipped back in. The three teenagers seemed worried, if not a bit distressed.

" I'll call you later" Nancy told Jonathan in a low voice and the boy nodded. She then turned to Mike. "Mom wants you back before dinner" 

"Can't you ask her to let me stay a bit longer?" He pleaded and she rolled her eyes, but complied.

"I'll see what I can do" She told him and Mike smiled.

"You're the best, Nancy"

"Yeah, sure" She looked at Jonathan. "Please thank your mom for the hospitality." Now at Steve "Let's go" 

The two boys nodded to her and she and Steve waved as they left. Richie watched them go and quietly wondered what their relationship was. At the same time, he wondered what she and Jonathan were. He put on hold to ask Mike about later. 

"What was that all about?" Will asked his brother.

Jonathan seemed a bit relutant to answer the question, but after one look for Will he ended up sitting next to his brother again.

"Nancy has a plan to end up the labs" He told them quietly.

"What?!" Dustin screamed and Lucas smacked the back of his head.

"Don't speak so loud, shithead!" He told the boy and Dustin stuck his tongue at him.

El stared at Jonathan with wide eyes and an expression that screamed both fear and curiosity. Mike was holding her hand.

"What plan?" Mike asked, but he wasn't looking at Jonathan. Instead, he watched El carefully, paying attention to her reactions.

"I'm not sure if I can get into details" He said and, surprisingly enough, it was El who contested his answer.

"No secrets" She said firmly.

Jonathan stared at her for a bit. She was completely serious, her grip on Mike's hand tight enough it looked like it hurt.

"No secrets" Will agreed with her.

Jonathan sighed. He opened his mouth to speak when the front door opened with a loud bang. Hopper came in Nancy and Steve right behind him. Joyce appeared from the kitchen as well.

"What is it?" The woman asked worriedly.

"There's another-" Hopper began and stopped. He took a deep breath before starting over. "There's another open gate at the labs." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Hey why did Joyce need to use the phone? Who was she talking to? Is it relevant to the story?"  
> Look, I'll be honest because I'm trusting you guys not to judge me too much but the truth is that I just needed an excuse for her to leave the room for some time and Joyce just saying "hey children brb gonna take a shit" didn't sound too good and I had to improvise.  
> I promise I won't go into this kind of lazy writing in this fic ever again and I'm sorry for it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! We're so close to the end I don't even know how to feel agahsjdjek   
> Hope you guys like this chapter!

_"Well" Stan Uris said,breaking the silence in the room. Richie was quick to turn to him and forget all about the biology homework he had been doing. Ben and Eddie did the same, everyone quite curious about what their friend wanted to say. Stan's left hand was gently touching the bandage around his head, elbow pressed against his knee. "If Pennywise's existence has any bright sides-"_

_"Doubt it" Ben interrupted, but Stan didn't stop his train of thought._

_"It is that It proved there are other dimensions aside from ours" The curly haired boy finished. "This is like, a very important scientific discovery"_

_"Wow" Eddie exclaimed. "I've never really thought about it, but you're right."_

_"You guys think we can win the science fair by proving the existence of nightmare dimension?" Richie joked._

_"Shut up, Rich" Eddie complained, but he had a kind of smile on his face._

A hand on Richie's shoulder and he was back, Dustin's worried face staring at him.

"You were out of it again, dude" The boy said and Richie nodded at him, mumbling a quiet thank you. 

Little by little, his surroundings came back to him. Everyone seemed to be talking at the same time, the most evident voice being Nancy's.

"I knew it" The girl was saying. "I freaking knew it" 

Richie could hear Mike too, talking to Eleven.

"It's okay, El" He told her. "This is not your fault" 

Then Hopper.

"He said they were controlling it, I even saw the process, but they couldn't close the gate." 

Lucas.

"They can't close it?!" 

Dustin.

"We're just gonna live with he portal to hell opened forever?!"

Will.

"At least they're containing it this time." 

Jonathan.

"Just containing it is not good enough!"

Steve.

"It's a start, though" 

El.

"I think I can close it" 

That took Richie's entire attention and he turned to look at her just like everybody else in the room. She wasn't looking at anyone, choosing instead to stare at her hands. Mike was the first to answer her statement. 

"No" He said firmly. "No way you are doing that" 

"Mike-" She tried to argue.

"No, El!" Mike cut her off. His hands found hers and squeezed tightly. "I just got you back, I'm not loosing you again!" 

Eleven lifted her head and let her gaze fall on Mike's. In those brief seconds they spent in silence, staring at each other's eyes, a whole conversation seemed to have taken place. 

"I need to" El vocalized. "It's the only way" 

"It can't be" Mike tried. "There has to be another option" 

El smiled sadly at him and Mike knew what that meant. He sighed.

"We're going to help you then" Mike said " In anyway we can, we are going to help you. You're not doing this alone."

"Mike's one hundred percent right" Richie chimed in "The portal may be the source of  all of our problems. Pennywise included." 

"Who is Pennywise?" Nancy muttered to Steve and the boy shrugged. 

"Demon clown." Dustin said without looking at the teenagers behind him. "We'll explain better later" He effectively cut both of them off before they even started asking questions. He focused on Richie. "You think Pennywise is from the upside down?" 

The glasses wearing boy shrugged.

"I can't really be sure of anything, but it's a possibility" Richie said.

"It makes sense" Lucas pondered. " I mean, judging by what Richie told us about It he fits the Upside down vibe quite well" 

"It would explain my connection to It, too" Will added and he quickly raised his hand to shush Jobathan's worried complains. "You think closing the portal will kill It?" 

"If we're right about our assumptions it will at least make It weak." Richie said. "Weak enough to kill I would say."

They all kept quiet for a bit, letting those words sink in. They actually had a chance. It was dangerous, of course, but when wasn't it? 

"So closing the gate is our big plan now" Hopper vocalized what everyone was thinking. He turned to El. "You sure you can do it? Nobody is gonna judge you if you're not." 

El nodded and the determination in her features made Richie's heart explode with pride. El was like a little sister to him, even though they hadn't spent that much time together. Richie guessed that was part of her charm, of what made her so damn special. 

"Alright" Hopper said and sighed, one hand rubbing his tired face. "We need a plan then"

"We can just ask to close the gate" Dustin said and immediately all eyes were on him, everyone's expressions going through different levels of frowning. Dustin rolled his eyes at them. " Look , those people actually want to close it, don't they? They can't do it, but we can. All we have to do is ask for access."

"Doing that means revealing El's whereabouts to them" Mike pointed out and his hand that held El's tighten its grip "We can't do that" 

"Well maybe we can work ou a deal or something" Dustin threw his hands up. " A peaceful agreement is the best shot we've got, ok? We aren't exactly fit to invade a facility like that." 

"It could be like a trade" Lucas said, the attention going to him. " We close the gate for them and they let El stay with us" 

"How would we know they will follow their side of the deal?" Mike questioned. "It's too risky to just blindly trust those men"

"Well shit, Mike. You got any better ideas?" Dustin complained and his voice was harsh enough to make Mike jump in suprise. " We don't want El to get hurt just as much as you do, but you gotta cooperate more, man. " Dustin sighed. "This shit is gonna be dangerous anyway. We can't run away from that."

Mike looked down, his cheeks red with shame.

"Sorry" He said. " I just..." Mike let out a sigh.  
El smiled at him even thoug he wasn't looking at her. With the hand that didn't firmly hold Mike's, she touched his cheek. 

"I understand" El told him and Mike knew she, in fact, did. 

"Yeah, ok" Mike nodded to himself and raised his head. " Let's work on that deal" 

"That's the spirit, dude" Dustin smiled and pat Mike on the back, the room falling into a comfortable silence though it didn't last much.

"Soo" Nancy started." Anyone care to explain who Pennywise is?" 

"Not quite a who" Richie said bitterly. " More like a what" 

Nancy hummed at his answer.

"Is it like the Demo-thing then?" She questioned.

"Demogorgon" Dustin corrected and Lucas rolled his eyes at his friend, mumbling 'priorities' under his breath.

"No." Richie shook his head to answer the girl's question. " Pennywise is more...conscious"

Nancy frowned at him.

"What he means is that where the Demogorgon was like a primitive animal, Pennywise is more human like." Dustin explained. " The Demogorgon hunted to fulfill its primary instincts while Pennywise's hunt is more based on...well, I would say revenge" 

"Revenge?" Steve questioned. "Revenge against whom?" 

Richie shyly raised his hand.

"That would be me" He said and tried his best not to flinch when Steve's and Nancy's glares fell on him. Their eyes screamed for explanation. "My friends and I had an encounter with It some time ago back in Maine. We thought we had defeated it for good, but turns out we just made him angry." 

"Your friends?" Nancy asked and Richie flinched. She imagined it was a sore topic for him then and decided to ask no further questions about them. " Does that mean there's a gate in Maine as well?" 

Richie's eyes widened, as if the thought had never really crossed his mind until then.

"Well, maybe" The boy said carefully. "I've never seen anything like the creatures you have here though. At least, I don't remember seeing them." 

Mike sighed.

"So there's also a possible open gate at Maine as well" He sounded defeated.

"Or maybe Pennywise is strong enough to go there powered by the energy from the gate here" Lucas suggested. "Either way, we should focus on the problem we already have at our hands" 

"Lucas is right" Will said. "Besides, if only Pennywise can use the hypothetical gate back in Maine and we will defeat it here, the hypothetical gate won't be that hard to close."

Richie stared at Will, a bit impressed with how optimistic the boy sounded. He wished he could be so sure of their success like that. Richie was about to open his mouth to say something when suddenly whatever he was going to say vanished from his mind completely, replaced by a sick feeling that made him dizzy.

"Richie?" Someone called. Probably Mike, he was the one who was always worried, but before Richie could answer he was sucked into a new memory.

_"It li-lives in duh-the well" Bill Denbrough told his friends. "Ba-back at Neibolt"_

_No one said anything, but they were all thinking  the same: if they wanted to defeat the clown they would have to go down there. Eddie held his broken arm close to his chest, protectively hugging it. You didn't need to be a genius to realise the small bou didn't want to go back to that place. In all honest, none of them did._

_"We can die down there" Stan Uris commented and Bill sighed._

_"I kno-know" He said and Richie could see how anxous he was. " I wo-won't blame y-you if you decide n-not to come, b-but we're s-stronger together, p-possibly stronger that it. We c-can defeat it. I believe in us"_

_Silence for a few seconds and Richie used that time to look at his friends, taking in their expressions. They were all scared, Richie himself was too, but they also seemed to be giving Bill's request some serious thought._   
_The glasses wearing boy looked at Bill. He couldn't imagine what it was like to be in his friend's shoes, knowing his brother was taken by such a monster like Pennywise. Even with all the anger Richie still felt when the thought of Mike appeared in his head, he knew he would do anything to kill the clown if it ever laid a finger on his brother._

_"Well" Richie said as he got up to stand next to Bill. All eyes moved to him. "With such a motivational speech like that, I'm surely going with you, Big Bill" He raised his hand for a fist bump. " Let's kill some demonic clowns"_

_Bill smiled at him and bumped his fist with his own. Bev was the next to get up and stand with them, soon followed by Ben and Mike. Stan and Eddie looked at their friends and then at each other. With one final sigh, Eddie got up and offered his good hand for Stan to grab. It was clear that the Jewish boy was quite conflicted, but in the end he chose to stand up as well._

_"Okay" Stan said. "Let's do this"_

A bright light.

_Pennywise's corpse on the ground, all of Richie's friends standing around it. They were all panting, their heartbeats almost dangerously fast. They just had the fight of their lives._

_"Is it dead?" Eddie asked._

_"I think so" Mike said, looking at the unmoving form in front of him._

_"Yes, it is" Stan said and blood still poured out of the wounds on his face. "Let's get the fuck out here"_

_"But what if-" Ben started, but was cut off by Bill._   


_"Stan is right" He said, eyes unfocused and  left hand clenching a yellow raincoat coat. The fight had been harder for Bill, they all knew that. Richie would have nightmares with Georgie turning into the monster for months. "It is dead." He carefully folded the raincoat, giving Pennywise's body one last angry look before turning to the sewers exit. "Let's go" He said._

_They all followed._

A bright light.

Richie watched himself walking out of the sewers, something that had never happen in a memory before. It was as if he was seeing from somebody else's eyes, away from his own body. 

"...what" He said and that's when he realised. He was no longer seeing one of his memories, he was having a vision.

Pennywise's body moved and loud cracks could be heard. Little by little it fixed itself, the damage caused by the losers disappearing like it was nothing. Richie could only watch in horror as it happened. 

"Stupid children" Pennywise murmured once he was finally done and Richie would've laughed at how comical those words sounded if he wasn't so scared.

Even if it was no longer a body on the ground, Pennywise didn't seem to be at its best. Its body trembled and the blood coming out of its wounds still floated around. The clown groaned and rolled his eyes until plain white orbs stared at Richie.

Things began to change then and the sewers were no longer how Richie remembered them to be. They were darker, dirtier, with vine like things on the walls and what looked like ashes floating in the air. Realization hit Richie like a slap.

"It's the Upside down" He murmured to himself, the environment he was seeing matching perfectly with the descriptions El gave him. 

Soon, Pennywise's own body began to change and what once looked like a clown now stood there as a gigantic monster seemingly made of black smoke. Richie stared with wild eyes as the creatures...tentacles? streched and traveled through the sewer tunnels and soon  he was no longer in Maine. 

Richie's eyes saw through a glass door and fell on the sight of what he assumed was the gate Hopper had been talking about. He could only look at it for a few seconds though, because suddenly a force pulled him towards it and he was back at the Upside down where he could see Pennywise's dark tentacles travelling through. 

Richie turned around to look at the opening that made the gate again and he felt his breath hitching due to the sight in front of him. The gate wasn't just the small hole on lab wall, no, Richie could see the energy coming from it in its entirety. The gate was much bigger than it appeared to be and that led to a dreadful realization: the visible opening was not the only thing connecting the real world to that nightmare place. 

As if it knew Richie had figured it out, whatever thing that had been showing him all those visions pulled him down and Richie let out a yelp as he travelled through what he once thought was hard, thick ground. What people saw when they looked inside the gate was no more than a layer covering the real thing: tunnels. 

The mystery force wasn't done with pulling him around though and Richie travelled through the tunnels side by side with the Pennywise's smoke form until they reached what seemed to be a wall filled with...eggs? 

"More like alien eggs" Richie whispered to himself as he watched the tentacles enter the big egg shaped greenish things on the wall. He wondered what was inside of them. 

Richie didn't have to wonder much since a Demodog appeared on his peripheral vision. The creature held the last remains of some animal in its mouth and then dropped it on the ground to eat it. When finished, the Demodog walked towards the big wall and that greenish thing that formed the egg started to envelop it. Once done, the black smoke moved to touch the new egg as well.

Then, as if he had never even left he was back in the sewers, but Pennywise was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the sewers were nothing like Richie remembered: the enormous pile of trash was nowhere to be seen too,the dirty walls and tunnels were painted white and the room was unusually bright. Richie looked around, trying to find what would make the big reveal only to find he was alone in that place. He frowned. If the vision was over shouldn't he have woken up? Was he trapped there forever? Was that Pennywise's plan? 

"You must be confused, Richard Tozier" A voice called and Richie had never turned his head so fast. There, a few feet away from him, was a...giant turtle.

"What the actual fuck" Richie let out, but the turtle paid no mind to his profanities. 

"I showed you a lot of things to day" it said calmly as if it wasn't a freaking talking giant turtle. "But I'm sure there must be a lot of questions going on your head." The turtle took a step forward and Richie instinctively took one back, away from its massive form. "I'm here to answer them" 

Richie looked at the turtle again, studying it. The boy previously imagined he had seen everything there was too see, but he apparently had been extremely wrong in his assumptions.

"Yeah" Richie nodded to himself. "Yeah, I'm just gonna ask the giant turtle some questions about the demonic clown. No big deal."

"Is my form too much for you?" The giant turtle asked. "I can change it" 

Richie closed his eyes to shield them from the light that followed the statement and opened to find the giant turtle looking like a normal sized turtle.

"Oh" Richie exclaimed, a bit surprised. "That does help a bit, thank you." 

The turtle nodded. The _turtle_.

"We do not have much time, Richard" The turtle warned. "Let's proceed" 

"Yeah, sure" Richie said, trying to get used to the fact he was talking to a turtle. He walked towards it and sat down in front of the animal. In front of the turtle. He sat in front of the turtle so he could speak to said turtle. What the hell was his life at that point? Richie shook his head and focused. "You're here to help me defeat Pennywise, right?" 

"Yes" The turtle answered.

"Alright" Richie brought his knees closer to his chest and hugged them."Can you tell me how I can do that? Defeat Pennywise, that is" 

"You and your friends are going on the right track. The evil force you call Pennywise indeed dislikes silver." The turtle seemed to think for a moment. "In fact, I believe silver is one of the only materials capable of doing real damage to It" 

Richie nodded. So they really had a chance, huh. The knowledge immediately brought a sense of relief to Richie. Then he remebered that was only the tip of the iceberg.

"The visions you showed me" Richie said. "What do they mean?" 

The turtle moved its head a bit.

"What did you get from them, Richard?" It asked.

"Oh" The question got Richie by surprise. "Well, I gues Pennywise has a connection of some sorts with the Upside Down" 

"Keep going" The turtle encouraged.

"It seemed like he was draining energy from the creatures and the creatures seemed to gain energy from eating things from our world" 

"You are correct" The turtle agreed. 

"Is this why the portal needs to remain open?" Richie asked. "So the creatures can gain energy and Pennywise can drain it from them?" 

"It's a bit more complicated than that, Richard." The turtle said. "The monsters you've encountered are not the only things that live in the upside down: there is a lot more. I can tell you, Nightmare Dimension is a very accurate nickname to that place." Richie shivered at those words. " The black smoke you saw it's part of Pennywise's true form. It uses said form to travel around your world and absorve information on people's fears. That smoke is invisible to humans, you only saw it because of my help, and it enters their body's to look at memories, ideas, anything that can turn into a way for Pennywise to scare its victim" 

The turtle was silent for a bit, waiting for Richie to absorb and understand what he was being told. Once Richie nodded, it continued.

"Pennywise uses the portals that connect the upside down to your reality to spread the smoke. The biggest portal had been on your city, Derry, but you and your friends managed to destroy it."

"What?" Richie frowned. He could not recall closing the portal to hell. Thankfully, The turtle seemed to understand his confusion. 

"You were never face to face with the portal" The turtle explained. "The power you and your friends hold is much greater than you comprehend. When you were all together, fighting like that so close to the gate the power of your actions was enough to close it. It's really a shame Pennywise managed to cut your connection, their presence would be extremely powerfull in this battle."

"We can still win though, right?" Richie questioned, a bit panicked. 

"Oh yes. Although not as powerful, your new friends will be of great assistance." 

The walls trembled and the white paint started to fade. The light that illuminated the place was not as strong anymore.

"We're running out of time" The turtle pointed out. " I must go soon, but know that you are doing a great job, Richard. Are there anymore questions you want to make?"

" I still can't understand the gates." Richie said "Even with we close this one, how can we ensure another won't open somewhere else?" 

"It won't" The turtle assured him. "We do not have much time, so I'll have to be brief with my explanation and I'll try to make ot so its easy for you to understand. You see, the gate in Hawkins can be called the heart that pumps energy to the other gates. It was the first to be created, the hardest to destroy and without it the others will not have enough power to exist. One of the reasons Pennywise chose to make Derry its home instead of here was to protect this gate." The walls trembled again. " Pennywise is a very complex and powerful being, but most of its power relies on the energy he gets from the Upside down and the gates are what allow sais energy toove around so freely." The paint was no longer white, instead it was red. Like blood. "Closing the gate won't kill it, but will at least weaken it enough for you to have a chance to take it out for good. Here, take this" The turtle's head went inside its shell and came out holding what seemed to be a silver tip of a spear. It dropped the object inside Richie's waiting hand. "Use it for the final blow, aim for the neck." A creepy laugh echoed through the tunnels. "Our time is over, good luck"

A bright light.

Richie open his eyes to meet Mike's worried ones and that sight was appearing far too frequently for Richie's likening.

"Richie!" Mike screamed and Richie was wrapped in a hug. He hugged his brother back and blinked, looking around for a bit.  
He was laying on the couch, everyone standing around him and Mike watching the two of them with relief in their eyes.

"What happened?" Richie asked when Mike finally let him go.

"You blacked out and scared the crap out of me!" His twin brother screamed. "What the hell was that?" 

Richie blinked.

"I think I just had a very long conversation with a magic turtle" He said calmly, ignoring the stares he was given. His right hand held something and Richie took it out of the front pocket of his hoodie to reveal the tip of the spear. "And it gave me the weapon to kill Pennywise" 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of information here huh? I hope is not too confusing :/ any questions you have, just ask me down in the comments!!  
> Next chapter (the last one omg) will have a lot more action than this one. I just felt like I needed a chlater to really explain things.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all: I'm honestly ashamed of how long it took me to update.Thing is, I kinda lost motivation to work on this story and I really considered just abandoning it, but I felt it would be a bit unfair to you guys if I just gave up on the last chapter so here it is! Took me too long and is smalled than intended, but here it is!  
> Second of all: I'm sorry. You'll see why.

If they had arrived a couple of hours earlier, Richie suppoused they would've found the lab full of scientists in their lab coats, all of them alive, breathing and probably telling them to get the fuck out of their facility. Maybe Dustin's plan would get their attention and maybe, just maybe, the scientists would go along with it. In the alternative universe in which they arrived a couple of hours earlier and the scientists cooperated as planned, the gate would be closed without much trouble and they would all live happy ever after. No bad men. No Demogorgon. No Pennywise.

A beautiful dream, Richie would say.

"Is that-" Dustin began, but cut himself off vefore finishing the question. The answer was obvious. Richie answered anyway.

"Yeah" He said simply and the reality of the situation made him a bit dizzy. 

YOU'LL DIE IF YOU TRY, was written in fresh red letters at the entrance of the lab next to what Richie assumed once was a scientist.

Nobody said anything, but it was clear for everyone: that was the point of no return. If they got inside for real, they would either come back victorious or dead. 

"Not very welcoming, is it" Steve commented, his bat, which Richie gave back to him, being firmly held in his hands. 

"Judging by the look of...this" Hopper moved his hands around. "There are more of those weird dogs here." 

"Demodogs" Dustin corrected.

"Is that really relevant right now, Dustin?" Lucas  complained and the boys seemed about to start a fight when Will intervened.

"Go on, Hopper" The boy said and his tone left no room for discussion.

"What I mean is that I'm kind of worried about this plan." Hopper continued. "We already knew it would be dangerous, but this...I think this is too much. God, I don't even know why I let you kids go this far"

"If don't take us with you, you'll die, Hops" Richie said and immediately all eyes turned to him. His voice was steady, calm even, as if he was just stating a obvious fact like the color of the sky. "You need us" 

"Richie, this is a life or death situation and I'm not putting you guys in danger like that!" Hopper shot back, crossing his arms.

This time, El stepped up. 

"Need to go" She said. "Going"

And then she walked inside the lab as if there were no danger at all. El was a true hero, Richie thought to himself as he watched the scene. 

"You heard her" He told Hopper and began to walk as well.

At that point, Hopper had no option but accept they were all going with a sigh. El had spoken up and the others would follow her to hell and back, Hopper knew that. Bunch of stubborn children. 

"Wait" Hopper called them, one hand streched to gently touch El's shoulder and stop the girl from walking any further. "I'm going first." 

Richie wanted to object, tell him no, you can go first, It is gonna kill you, but he stayed quiet. Hopper wouldn't listen anyway, it would be a waste of time. 

"Let's go" Mike told the others and they pursued forward.

The more they walked, the darker it got. They no longer seemed to be in a lab, but, instead, in a horror movie. The only light sources were the flashlights and even they didn't seemed to be enough to fully illuminate the place. 

"It's like the darkness is alive" Dustin commented quietly. 

The thought of Pennywise's dark smoke invaded Richie's mind at those words, but he tried not to pay it any mind. He was already scared enough, no need to make it worse.

"Let's just keep going" Richie said simply.  
The tip of the spear felt heavy in his pocket as he walked. The turtle told him to aim for the neck and it was a simple instruction if it weren't for the fact that he would have to get too fucking close to do it. The thought brought chills to his spine. Of course, he could always ask El to throw it for him, mind powers and all that, but something in his gut told him he had to be the one to deliver that final blow. 

"Look!" Steve said, pointing at a cracked wall 

"Light" Jonathan completed.

Light was, in fact, coming out of the holes in the wall, but it didn't provide the feeling of safety Richie thought it would. The light was so bright yet so unnatural. It wasn't guiding their way to safety but rather calling them in to,ironically, something dark.

"Stop walking" Richie said,but not loud enough for everyone to hear. "Stop walking!" He said again and this time he was obeyed.

"What?" Nancy questioned, annoyed.

Richie didn't respond, it was quite unnecessary. Laugher echoed through the walls, creppy and loud. It felt like liquid: flooding the place and making them drown on it.

"Is that-?" Hopper whispered, but an answer wasn't needed. 

" _Poor little Richie, had to run away_ " The voice sang and it send chills down Richie's spine " _All the boy wanted was a safe place to stay_ " The flashlights flickered and turned off leaving the tunnel to be illuminated only by the weird light coming from the wall " _He came to Hawkins where he found some friends_ " The voice got louder. " _It was beautiful while it lasted, but here it's where it eeeeends!"_

The lights went out and they were all consumed in pure darkness.

Screams.

Panic.

In the middle of it all,Richie felt a hand take his arm and instinctively  wrapped his own hand around it.

" _Hello, Richard_." The person who grabbed his arm whispered to him. Except it wasn't a person.

Richie screamed and let go, trying desperately to take his hand out of the grip It had on him. The more the pulled, the more he felt It's claws entering his already damaged skin. Some tears fell from his eyes due to the pain, but he had to keep trying to get free. 

"Richie!" Someone screamed, but he couldn't really decipher who it was, too caught up in his panic. 

Another hand grabbed his other arm , helping him in his mission to freedom. It hurt like hell  to somehow take his arm out of Pennywise's clutches but any damage made to his skin was far better than whatever fate would fall upon Richie had Pennywise taken him.

"Richie!" The voice Richie now recognized as Mike called again and with one last pull he was free. "Are you okay?!" Mike's voice was panicked  and although nothing could be seen in the darkness of the tunnel, Richie could imagine his brother's face "What the hell was that?! Was it Pennywise?! Why aren't you fucking answering me?!" 

"I'm okay!" Richie screamed. "I'm okay" He repeated, I bit calmer. "How's everyone else?" 

"Steve and I are ok" Jonathan's voice was heard.

"El, Lucas, Nancy and I too" Hopper's.  
"I'm fine" Came Will's voice " So is mom" 

And then silence.

"...Dustin?" Lucas asked tentatively. " Buddy, if this is prank you've got a really bad timing"

" Dustin!" Will called more desperately. 

"Not good." El whispered to herself.  
Richie didn't pay attetion. He had his focus totally on the warm breath on his neck.

" _Your friend is quite toothless, isn't he?"_ Pennywise whispered in Richie's ear " _Good thing I have teeth to spare_." 

Richie moved. He punched the area where he assumed Pennywise was, but his fists only connected with air. The sudden movement  seemed to have startled Mike, who held Richie's arm with more strength.

"Richie?" Mike called.

"Pennywise's got Dustin" Was all Richie said. " Let's go. Move forward, that's where he wants us to go." 

Richie ignored the worried comments from his friends and started walking. His mind had one sole objective at that moment: save Dustin. Richie would not let his friend die because of him, no way in hell.

" Are you sure about where we are going?" Mike whispered to him.  
 

They moved slowly due to the thick darkness that flooded the place. Richie literally couldn't see anything so Mike's worries were perfectly justifiable.

" Trust me on this" Richie answered his brother.

He could faintly hear Lucas speaking, the boy seemed extremely upset no doubt because of Dustin. That only made Richie's heart hurt more with guilt. He had to save Dustin. He had to.

"I trust you" Mike offered with sincerity and it wasn't much but it made  Richie feel a bit better, knowing his brother trusted him again.

The good feelimg didn't last for long though,as Richie was suddenly and painfully reminded that that trust meant Mike was sure Richie would be able to not only defeat Pennywise, but also get everyone out alive. They tip of the spear felt heavy in his pocket. (The turtle had told him to aim for the neck and it was a simple instruction if it weren't for the fact that he would have to get too fucking close to do it. Of course, he could always ask El to throw it for him, mind powers and all that, but something in his gut told him he had to be the one to deliver that final blow.) 

They walked for what felt like ages before any sound other than Lucas' sad murmurs was heard. It was faint, but it was also, without doubt, Dustin's voice.

"Help!" The voice screamed and it was so full of panic and so full of fear that Richie forgot all about being careful and just sprinted towards the sound.

"Dustin!" He called.

"Richie!" Dustin's voice called back " Help, please!" 

In the back of his mind, Richie knew there was a high chance that it wasn't Dustin speaking. Maybe the real Dustin was dead and gone to the world already and the screams were just Pennywise toying with their heads. Another part of Richie didn't want to belive that. Dustin had to be alive.  
Suddenly, out of the complete darkness that so rounded Richie came light. It seemed to just have materialized in front of the boy and had he been on his right state of mind he would have stopped running before going right into it. But Richie didn't stop. His mind was consumed by one single thought.

Save Dustin.

The light brought him to a big room, much like the sewers he had fought in all those months ago. As soon as he arrived a body slammed into his.

"I'm so fucking glad to see you!" Came Dustin's muffled voice as the boy hugged Richie like his life depended on it (well, maybe it did)

"It's good to see you too" Richie answered but he didn't sound as relieved as he should. His eyes scanned the room with speed, looking for any sign of Pennywise. 

The boys were soon joined by the rest of the group and Richie just felt his worry increase.

"Dustin!" Lucas screamed and Dustin was quick to let go of Richie to hug his friend. " Don't you fucking dare do anything like this again, you prick!"

"Not get dragged by a creepy clown into a creepy room ever again. Noted." Dustin said and Lucas just fondly punched his shoulder.

"You had me worried" Lucas told him.

"You had us all worried" Hopper chimed in. " But now we have other things to worry about"

" _Me, perhaps, Chief Hopper?_ " A voice echoed in the room. Richie, who was already tense, was downright terrified. He desperately looked around the room to find the source of the voice but he couldn't. " _I didn't know Hawkins' police dealt with things like me. If I knew, I would have moved here sooner_."

"Show yourself, coward!" Mike shouted and Richie would praise him for his courage if he wasn't busy thing of how stupid his brother was for shouting at a sentient demon clown.

" _Oooh_ " The voice sing songed " _This one's got spirit I see. Maybe he would be more fun than you Richie_."

"Leave him the fuck alone!" Richie screamed angrily at the general direction of the voice. Pennywise just laughed.

" _It's funny, really, seeing you try so hard to protect your friends, Richie_ " Pennywise taunted him. " _By now, you should know you can't do it_ " 

And then something materialized a few feet in front of Richie. It was a small object and with less than two steps Richie could already see it well enough to determine what it was:

An inhaler.

"...No" Was the only thing Richie could say.  
Pennywise laughed again.

_"_ Please don't kill me! _"_ It said in Eddie's voice, sending chills down Richie's spine. " _His screams were good to hear."_

Pennywise appeared then, in the middle of the room. An enormous clown in a colorful suit with a smile so wicked that it by itself could have killed someone. 

_"I hope yours are better"_

And It attacked.

It was so quick Richie barely saw it coming, too focused on trying to process the fact that that Eddie was fucking dead and maybe he could have prevented it from happening. If only he had tried harder to convince Bill maybe their former leader would have been able to warn Eddie. It only he had helped Eddie escape his abusive mother when he had the chance, the two of them could have ran away together and now they would be happy, carefree and alive.  
If only...

"Richie!" Mike's voice again. Maybe Richie should get worried about how many times his brother had to scream his name in alarm. "Wake up!"

The scream shook Richie out of his trance and he was again aware of his surroundings. Several gunshots were heard and Richie turned to see Hopper shooting at Pennywise, who now looked like a mix between an alien clown and a spider. Lucas and Dustin were throwing rocks at the monster, protected by Jonathan  and Nancy with their own weapons. Steve had his bat in hands, his body firmly positioned in front of a body with Will and Joyce crouched next to it. It didn't take long for Richie to recognize El's unconscious form. Of course Pennywise had gone for her first, she was the real threat.

"Richie?" Mike, his twin brother called. "What's the plan?"

_I don't know_ , Richie wanted to say, but he couldn't. Not when Mike trusted him to save them all. With one last look at the fallen inhaler, Richie turned to Mike, determined.

" Now we kill the bastard" He said.

Easier said than done, of course, but Richie knew what he had to do. 

Things seemed to move in slow motion as the twins ran towards Pennywise. The monster turned and Richie could clearly see how It's eyes focused on Mike and, as if he could read minds, Richie knee exactly what the demon was thinking.

Pennywise attacked.

Its pointy and sharp arm would have hit Mike right on the belly had Richie not jumped in front of his brother. It hurt like hell when the claw went through his skin like it was nothing new tearing his insides apart. Pennywise laughed like a maniac when it saw Richie's body there and immediately brought the boy closer to its face.

" _I thought you would provide me a challenge, Richie_ " It mocked him " _But you were even easier than your Eddie_ " 

More calm than he thought he would be, Richie glared at the monster. He took everything in, Pennywise's ugly face with its big mouth full of teeth and that look in its eyes that screamed that Pennywise had no doubt It had won. Richie would have laughed if it didn't hurt so much.

"Fuck you " Richie spat and with one swift movement he took the tip of the spear out of his pocket and stabbed Pennywise's throat with it.

Richie closed his eyes as he felt It's blood (could it even be called blood?) stain his hands as he twisted the blade. Pennywise's body shook as he choked and soon it fell, bringing  Richie down with it.

Richie Tozier hit the ground with a bang, his whole buddy consumed with pain, but his mind full of relief. He had done it. He had killed Pennywise.

"Richie!" It was Mike's voice and Richie could only smile as he heard it even if all he could see was his brother's blurry crying face above him.

"I did it Mikey" He said faintly. It hurt to speak. " I did it."

"You're gonna be fine, Richie. Please just hang on." Mike was crying and Richie was kinda sad to know his brother was upset because of him, but he didn't really care that much. He had killed Pennywise. Now, the gates...

"El needs to close the gate, Mikey" Richie told him. " She needs to close it".

"Don't worry about this right now, Rich" Mike told him " Please just hang on." 

Richie blinked as he felt the pain begin to fade and at that moment he already knew his fate.

"I didn't want to die" He told his crying brother. " But I'll die for you. I'll die for you, Mikey" 

"Please stop" Mike was sobbing now " You'll be alright" 

They both knew it was a lie. It hurt, a lot, but Richie was ready for it.

"I'm sorry" Richie said. " I love you" 

And before Richie's consciousness really faded he was able to hear Mike's broken answer.

"I love you too" 

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_Defeat Pennywise ■_  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to everyone who read the story! You guys are literally the best and I love you all so fucking much.   
> Thank you for going through this story with me.  
> What a journey.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any mistakes! English is not my mother language and I haven't revised this yet so haha


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